CN114465648A

CN114465648A - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN114465648A
Application number: CN202210038014.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王潇涵; 张永平; 金黄平; 高翔; 毕晓艳
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-27
Filing date: 2019-03-27
Publication date: 2022-05-10
Also published as: US20220014251A1; CN111756420A; CN112671442A; CN111756420B; EP3952126A4; WO2020192702A1; CN112671442B; EP3952126A1

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a communication device. The method comprises the following steps: determining a plurality of frequency domain units based on which PMI reporting is based in reporting bandwidth. The plurality of frequency domain units includes one or more first frequency domain units and a third frequency domain unit divided by one or more second frequency domain units. The granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than a pre-configured first granularity, the granularity of the second frequency domain unit is the first granularity, and the granularity of the third frequency domain unit is a predetermined second granularity. The first granularity is a granularity pre-configured for CQI reporting, the second granularity is a granularity pre-determined for PMI reporting, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity. Because the first frequency domain unit is at the edge of the reporting bandwidth, if the first frequency domain unit is divided, the pilot frequency density can be reduced, and if the first frequency domain unit is not divided, the pilot frequency density of the first frequency domain unit can be ensured to be unchanged. The terminal device can perform channel measurement based on a smaller granularity, so that more accurate PMI feedback can be obtained, and the improvement of transmission performance is facilitated.

Description

Communication method and communication device

The present application is a divisional application, the original application having application number 201910240080.0, the original application date being 2019, 03 and 27, the entire content of the original application being incorporated by reference in the present application.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the wireless field, and more particularly, to a communication method and a communication apparatus.

Background

In some communication systems, such as a fifth generation (5G) communication system, in order to improve system performance, a network device usually determines a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), a number of transmission layers, a precoding matrix, and the like for downlink data transmission according to Channel State Information (CSI) fed back by a terminal device. The MCS may be indicated by a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) in the CSI, the number of transmission layers may be indicated by a Rank Indication (RI), and the precoding matrix may be indicated by a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) in the CSI.

In order to obtain better data transmission performance, the network device may configure the sub-bands to be measured and reported in advance through signaling. The terminal device may perform channel measurement and feedback on the preconfigured respective sub-bands. Because the PMI is key information for determining the precoding matrix by the network equipment, the frequency domain granularity reported by the PMI can be redesigned in order to obtain more accurate feedback of the terminal equipment.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which aim to obtain more accurate PMI feedback of terminal equipment, thereby improving data transmission performance.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which may be performed by a terminal device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the terminal device.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: receiving first indication information, where the first indication information is used to configure a reporting bandwidth, where the reporting bandwidth includes a plurality of first-class frequency domain units on which Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) is reported, the plurality of first-class frequency domain units include one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units, a granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than a preconfigured first granularity, a granularity of the second frequency domain unit is the first granularity, and the first granularity is a preconfigured frequency domain granularity for CQI reporting; determining a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on which the precoding matrix indicator PMI is reported in the reporting bandwidth, where the plurality of second-class frequency domain units include the one or more first frequency domain units and a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing the one or more second frequency domain units, a granularity of the third frequency domain units is a predetermined second granularity, the second granularity is a predetermined frequency domain granularity for PMI reporting, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity.

Therefore, in the method provided in this embodiment of the present application, the first frequency domain unit at the reporting bandwidth edge is not divided, so as to ensure that the pilot density is greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density, thereby being beneficial to obtaining accurate PMI feedback when the terminal device performs channel measurement on each second frequency domain unit. The network device may determine a precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit according to the PMI feedback for data transmission. Thus contributing to an improvement in data transmission performance.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which may be performed by a terminal device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the terminal device.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: receiving first indication information, where the first indication information is used to configure a reporting bandwidth, where the reporting bandwidth includes a plurality of first-class frequency domain units on which CQI reporting is based, the plurality of first-class frequency domain units include one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units, a granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than a preconfigured first granularity, a granularity of the second frequency domain unit is the first granularity, and the first granularity is a preconfigured frequency domain granularity for CQI reporting; determining a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on which the precoding matrix indicator PMI is reported in the reporting bandwidth, wherein the plurality of second-class frequency domain units comprise a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing the one or more second frequency domain units and a plurality of fourth frequency domain units determined by the one or more first frequency domain units; at least one of the one or more first frequency domain units meets a preset condition, and at least part of the fourth frequency domain units in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units are obtained by dividing the first frequency domain units meeting the preset condition; the granularity of the third frequency domain unit is a predetermined second granularity, and the granularity of at least one fourth frequency domain unit in the one or more fourth frequency domain units is smaller than the second granularity; the second granularity is a predetermined frequency domain granularity for PMI reporting, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity.

Therefore, in the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the first frequency domain unit meeting the preset condition is divided into the plurality of second frequency domain units, and it can be ensured that the pilot density is greater than or equal to the pre-configured pilot density to a greater extent, so that it is beneficial for the terminal device to obtain accurate PMI feedback when performing channel measurement on each second frequency domain unit. The network device may determine a precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit according to the PMI feedback for data transmission. Thus contributing to an improvement in data transmission performance.

With reference to the second aspect, in some possible implementations, at least some of the fourth frequency-domain units in the plurality of fourth frequency-domain units are obtained by dividing the first frequency-domain unit according to the second granularity.

That is, the terminal device may divide at least one of the one or more first frequency domain units according to the second granularity to obtain a plurality of fourth frequency domain units. And the granularity of at least one fourth frequency domain unit in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units obtained by division is the second granularity.

It should be understood that the terminal device may also divide the first frequency domain unit according to a ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity, and in a case that the granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than the preconfigured first granularity, the frequency domain granularity of the fourth frequency domain unit obtained thereby may be smaller than the second granularity.

Optionally, the preset condition is: the pre-configured pilot density for the first frequency domain unit is greater than or equal to 1.

The pre-configured pilot density for the first frequency domain unit, i.e. the configured pilot density for the reporting bandwidth. And under the condition that the pilot density is greater than or equal to 1, the first frequency domain unit is divided, and no matter how the first frequency domain unit is divided, the pilot density of the fourth frequency domain unit obtained by dividing can still be ensured to be greater than or equal to the pre-configured pilot density. Meanwhile, the frequency domain granularity based on PMI reporting can be reported as much as possible, which is beneficial to obtaining more accurate PMI feedback of the terminal equipment.

In a third aspect, a method of communication is provided. The method may be performed by the terminal device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the terminal device.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: receiving first indication information, where the first indication information is used to configure a reporting bandwidth, where the reporting bandwidth includes a plurality of first-class frequency domain units on which CQI reporting is based, the plurality of first-class frequency domain units include one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units, a granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than a preconfigured first granularity, a granularity of the second frequency domain unit is a first granularity, and the first granularity is a preconfigured frequency domain granularity for CQI reporting; determining a plurality of second frequency domain units based on PMI reporting in the reporting bandwidth, wherein the plurality of second frequency domain units comprise a plurality of fourth frequency domain units determined by one or more first frequency domain units and a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing one or more second frequency domain units; at least a part of the fourth frequency domain units in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units are obtained by dividing at least one first frequency domain unit in the one or more first frequency domain units according to a predetermined second granularity; the granularity of the third frequency domain unit is a predetermined second granularity, the second granularity is a predetermined frequency domain granularity reported by the PMI, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity.

Therefore, in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first frequency domain unit is divided into the plurality of second frequency domain units according to the predefined second granularity, so that both the terminal device and the network device can divide the first frequency domain unit according to the predefined rule. By dividing the first frequency domain unit, the frequency domain granularity reported by the PMI can be reduced, so that the method is beneficial to obtaining accurate PMI feedback when the terminal equipment carries out channel measurement on the frequency domain unit with smaller granularity. The network device may determine a precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit according to the PMI feedback for data transmission. Thus contributing to an improvement in data transmission performance.

With reference to the third aspect, in some possible implementations, at least some of the fourth frequency domain units in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units are obtained by dividing the first frequency domain unit satisfying the preset condition according to the second granularity.

By dividing the first frequency domain units meeting the preset conditions, the pilot frequency density can be ensured to be larger than or equal to the pre-configured pilot frequency density to a greater extent, so that the accurate PMI feedback can be obtained when the terminal equipment performs channel measurement on each second frequency domain unit.

In a fourth aspect, a method of communication is provided. The method may be performed by the terminal device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the terminal device.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for configuring reporting bandwidth, the reporting bandwidth comprises a plurality of first-class frequency domain units based on CQI reporting, and the number of the first-class frequency domain units in the reporting bandwidth is greater than or equal to a preset threshold; the multiple first-class frequency domain units comprise one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units, the granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than a pre-configured first granularity, the granularity of the second frequency domain unit is the first granularity, and the first granularity is the pre-configured frequency domain granularity for CQI reporting; determining a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on PMI reporting in the reporting bandwidth, wherein the plurality of second-class frequency domain units comprise one or more first frequency domain units and a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing the one or more second frequency domain units; the granularity of the third frequency domain unit is a predetermined second granularity, the second granularity is the predetermined frequency domain granularity reported by the PMI, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity. Therefore, in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first frequency domain unit at the edge of the reporting bandwidth is not divided, so as to ensure that the pilot density is greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density, thereby being beneficial to obtaining accurate PMI feedback when the terminal device performs channel measurement on each second frequency domain unit. The network device may determine a precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit according to the PMI feedback for data transmission. Thus contributing to an improvement in data transmission performance. Meanwhile, the storage space can be saved for some codebook feedback modes.

Optionally, the preset threshold is 19.

With reference to the first to fourth aspects, in some possible implementations, the method further includes: and receiving second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is not 1.

The ratio R of the first particle size to the second particle size may be 1 or 2. The network device may indicate the value of R through signaling.

Of course, the ratio of the first granularity to the second granularity may also be a predefined value. For example, the protocol predefines R to be 2.

It should be understood that the first indication information and the second indication information may be carried in the same high layer signaling or may be carried in different high layer signaling, which is not limited in this application.

In a fifth aspect, a method of communication is provided. The method may be performed by a network device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the network device.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: determining a reporting bandwidth, wherein the reporting bandwidth includes a plurality of first-class frequency domain units on which Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) reporting is based, the plurality of first-class frequency domain units include one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units, the granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than a preconfigured first granularity, the granularity of the second frequency domain unit is the first granularity, and the first granularity is a preconfigured frequency domain granularity for Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) reporting; determining a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on which the precoding matrix indicator PMI is reported in the reporting bandwidth, where the plurality of second-class frequency domain units include the one or more first frequency domain units and a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing the one or more second frequency domain units, a granularity of the third frequency domain units is a predetermined second granularity, the second granularity is a predetermined frequency domain granularity for PMI reporting, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity.

In a sixth aspect, a method of communication is provided. The method may be performed by a network device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the network device.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: determining a reporting bandwidth, where the reporting bandwidth includes a plurality of first-class frequency domain units on which Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) reporting is based, the plurality of first-class frequency domain units include one or more first frequency domain units and one or more fourth frequency domain units, a granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than a preconfigured first granularity, a granularity of the fourth frequency domain unit is the first granularity, and the first granularity is a preconfigured frequency domain granularity for Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) reporting; determining a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on which the precoding matrix indicator PMI is reported in the reporting bandwidth, wherein the plurality of second-class frequency domain units comprise a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing the one or more second frequency domain units and a plurality of fourth frequency domain units determined by the one or more first frequency domain units; at least one of the one or more first frequency domain units satisfies a preset condition, and at least a part of the fourth frequency domain units in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units are obtained by dividing the first frequency domain units satisfying the preset condition; the granularity of the third frequency domain unit is a predetermined second granularity, and the granularity of at least one fourth frequency domain unit in the one or more fourth frequency domain units is smaller than the second granularity; the second granularity is a predetermined frequency domain granularity for PMI reporting, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in some possible implementations, at least some of the fourth frequency-domain units in the plurality of fourth frequency-domain units are obtained by dividing the first frequency-domain unit according to the second granularity.

That is, the network device may divide at least one of the one or more first frequency-domain units according to the second granularity to obtain a plurality of fourth frequency-domain units. And the granularity of at least one fourth frequency domain unit in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units obtained by division is the second granularity.

It should be understood that the network device may also divide the first frequency-domain unit according to a ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity, and in case the granularity of the first frequency-domain unit is smaller than the preconfigured first granularity, the frequency-domain granularity of the fourth frequency-domain unit obtained thereby may be smaller than the second granularity.

In a seventh aspect, a method of communication is provided. The method may be performed by a network device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the network device.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: determining a reporting bandwidth, wherein the reporting bandwidth comprises a plurality of first type frequency domain units based on which the CQI reporting is based, the plurality of first type frequency domain units comprise one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units, the granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than a preconfigured first granularity, the granularity of the second frequency domain unit is a first granularity, and the first granularity is a preconfigured frequency domain granularity for the CQI reporting; determining a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on PMI reporting in the reporting bandwidth, wherein the plurality of second-class frequency domain units comprise a plurality of fourth frequency domain units determined by one or more first frequency domain units and a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing one or more second frequency domain units; at least a part of the fourth frequency domain units in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units are obtained by dividing at least one first frequency domain unit in the one or more first frequency domain units according to a predetermined second granularity; the granularity of the third frequency domain unit is a predetermined second granularity, the second granularity is a predetermined frequency domain granularity reported by the PMI, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in some possible implementations, at least some of the fourth frequency domain units in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units are obtained by dividing the first frequency domain unit satisfying the preset condition according to the second granularity.

In an eighth aspect, a method of communication is provided. The method may be performed by a network device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the network device.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: determining a reporting bandwidth, wherein the reporting bandwidth comprises a plurality of first-class frequency domain units based on CQI reporting, and the number of the first-class frequency domain units in the reporting bandwidth is greater than or equal to a preset threshold; the multiple first-class frequency domain units comprise one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units, the granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than a pre-configured first granularity, the granularity of the second frequency domain unit is the first granularity, and the first granularity is the pre-configured frequency domain granularity for CQI reporting; determining a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on PMI reporting in the reporting bandwidth, wherein the plurality of second-class frequency domain units comprise one or more first frequency domain units and a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing the one or more second frequency domain units; the granularity of the third frequency domain unit is a predetermined second granularity, the second granularity is the predetermined frequency domain granularity reported by the PMI, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity.

Therefore, in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first frequency domain unit at the edge of the reporting bandwidth is not divided, so as to ensure that the pilot density is greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density, thereby being beneficial to obtaining accurate PMI feedback when the terminal device performs channel measurement on each second frequency domain unit. The network device may determine a precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit according to the PMI feedback for data transmission. Thus contributing to an improvement in data transmission performance. Meanwhile, the storage space can be saved for some codebook feedback modes.

Optionally, the preset threshold is 19.

With reference to the fifth to eighth aspects, in some possible implementations, the method further includes: and sending first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for configuring the reporting bandwidth.

The network device may configure the reporting bandwidth by sending the first indication information to the terminal device, so that the terminal device determines the reporting bandwidth according to the first indication information, and further determines the second type of frequency domain unit on which the PMI is reported in the reporting bandwidth is based.

With reference to the fifth to eighth aspects, in some possible implementations, the method further includes: and sending second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is not 1.

With reference to the first to eighth aspects, in some possible implementations, the second granularity includes a number N of resource blocks RB₂＝N₁/R，N₁Indicating the number of RBs contained in a preconfigured first granularity, R being the ratio of the first granularity to the second granularity, R, N₁And N₂Are all positive integers.

The second granularity may be determined by the first granularity. I.e. N₂＝N₁/R。

Optionally, the ratio R of the first particle size to the second particle size is 2.

That is, the second granularity may be obtained by dividing the preconfigured first granularity by 2.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a communication device comprising means for performing the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects.

In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to execute the instructions in the memory to implement the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the communication device is a terminal device. When the communication device is a terminal device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip configured in the terminal device. When the communication device is a chip configured in a terminal device, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transmit-receive circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes modules or units for performing the method of any one of the possible implementations of the fifth to eighth aspects and the fifth to eighth aspects.

In a twelfth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to execute the instructions in the memory to implement the method of any one of the possible implementations of the fifth to eighth aspects and the fifth to eighth aspects. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the communication device is a network device. When the communication device is a network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip configured in the network device. When the communication device is a chip configured in a network device, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In a thirteenth aspect, a processor is provided, including: input circuit, output circuit and processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that the processor performs the method in any one of the possible implementations of the first to eighth aspects and the first to eighth aspects.

In a specific implementation process, the processor may be one or more chips, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a flip-flop, various logic circuits, and the like. The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example and without limitation, a receiver, the signal output by the output circuit may be output to and transmitted by a transmitter, for example and without limitation, and the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit that functions as the input circuit and the output circuit, respectively, at different times. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner of the processor and various circuits.

In a fourteenth aspect, a processing apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory, and may receive a signal through the receiver and transmit a signal through the transmitter to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to eighth aspects and the first to eighth aspects.

Optionally, the number of the processors is one or more, and the number of the memories is one or more.

Alternatively, the memory may be integral to the processor or provided separately from the processor.

In a specific implementation process, the memory may be a non-transient memory, such as a Read Only Memory (ROM), which may be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or may be separately disposed on different chips.

It will be appreciated that the associated data interaction process, e.g., sending the indication information, may be a process of outputting the indication information from the processor, and receiving the capability information may be a process of receiving the input capability information from the processor. In particular, the data output by the processing may be output to a transmitter and the input data received by the processor may be from a receiver. The transmitter and receiver may be collectively referred to as a transceiver, among others.

The processing means in the above fourteenth aspect may be one or more chips, the processor may be implemented by hardware or may be implemented by software, and when implemented by hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like; when implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory, which may be integrated with the processor, located external to the processor, or stand-alone.

In a fifteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions), which when executed, causes a computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to eighth aspects and of the first to eighth aspects described above.

In a sixteenth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, which stores a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to eighth aspects and the first to eighth aspects.

In a seventeenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the foregoing network device and terminal device.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system suitable for a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a pilot density of 1 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a pilot density of 0.5 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of BWP, sub-band and reporting bandwidth provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a reporting bandwidth divided into a plurality of second-class frequency domain units according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method provided by another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method provided by yet another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a pilot density greater than 0.5 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 is another schematic diagram of the report bandwidth division into a plurality of frequency domain units of the second type according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method provided by yet another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method provided by yet another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method provided by yet another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) System, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) System, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) System, a General Packet Radio Service (General Packet Radio Service, GPRS), a Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) System, a LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) System, a LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Access, a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication System, a future fifth Generation (5th Generation, 5G) communication System, or a new Radio Access Technology (NR).

For the understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a communication system suitable for the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to fig. 1. Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system suitable for use in embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system 100 may include at least one network device, such as the network device 110 shown in fig. 1; the communication system 100 may also include at least one terminal device, such as the terminal device 120 shown in fig. 1. Network device 110 and terminal device 120 may communicate via a wireless link. Each communication device, such as network device 110 or terminal device 120, may be configured with multiple antennas, which may include at least one transmit antenna for transmitting signals and at least one receive antenna for receiving signals. Additionally, each communication device can additionally include a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of which can in turn comprise a plurality of components associated with signal transmission and reception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas, etc.), as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. Thus, network device 110 and terminal device 120 may communicate via multi-antenna technology.

It should be understood that the network device in the wireless communication system may be any device having a wireless transceiving function. Such devices include, but are not limited to: evolved Node B (eNB), Radio Network Controller (RNC), Node B (Node B, NB), Base Station Controller (BSC), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), Home Base Station (e.g., Home evolved NodeB, or Home Node B, HNB), BaseBand Unit (Base band Unit, BBU), Access Point (AP) in Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) system, etc., and may also be 5G, such as NR, gbb in system, or TRP, transmission Point (TRP or TP), one or a group of antennas (including multiple antennas, NB, or a transmission panel) of a Base Station in 5G system, such as a baseband unit (BBU), or a Distributed Unit (DU), etc.

In some deployments, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include a Radio Unit (RU). A CU implements part of the function of a gNB, and a DU implements part of the function of the gNB, for example, the CU implements the function of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, and the DU implements the function of a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layer. Since the information of the RRC layer eventually becomes or is converted from the information of the PHY layer, the higher layer signaling, such as the RRC layer signaling, may also be considered to be transmitted by the DU or the DU + CU under this architecture. It is to be understood that the network device may be a CU node, or a DU node, or a device including a CU node and a DU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into network devices in a Radio Access Network (RAN), or may be divided into network devices in a Core Network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

It should also be understood that terminal equipment in the wireless communication system may also be referred to as User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), and the like. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios.

To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, first, the terms referred to in the present application will be briefly described.

1. Precoding Matrix Indication (PMI): the PMI may be used to indicate a precoding matrix. The precoding matrix may be, for example, a precoding matrix corresponding to each frequency domain unit determined by the terminal device based on the channel matrix of each frequency domain unit (e.g., subband).

The channel matrix may be determined by the terminal device through channel estimation or the like or based on channel reciprocity. However, it should be understood that the specific method for determining the channel matrix by the terminal device is not limited to the foregoing, and the specific implementation manner may refer to the prior art, which is not listed here for brevity.

The precoding matrix may be obtained by performing Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) on the channel matrix or a covariance matrix of the channel matrix, or may be obtained by performing eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) on the covariance matrix of the channel matrix.

It should be understood that the determination manner of the precoding matrix listed above is only an example, and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. The determination of the precoding matrix can be made by referring to the prior art, and for the sake of brevity, it is not listed here.

In this embodiment, the precoding matrix corresponding to the frequency domain unit may refer to a precoding matrix fed back by the frequency domain unit, and may be, for example, a precoding matrix that performs channel measurement and feedback based on a reference signal on the frequency domain unit. The precoding matrix corresponding to the frequency domain unit may be a precoding matrix for precoding data to be subsequently transmitted through the frequency domain unit. Hereinafter, the precoding matrix corresponding to a frequency domain element may also be simply referred to as the precoding matrix of the frequency domain element, and the precoding vector corresponding to a frequency domain element may also be referred to as the precoding vector of the frequency domain element.

It should be further noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, a precoding matrix determined by a network device based on feedback of a terminal device may be directly used for downlink data transmission; the precoding matrix finally used for downlink data transmission may also be obtained through some beamforming methods, for example, including zero-forcing (ZF), regularized zero-forcing (RZF), minimum mean-squared error (MMSE), signal-to-leakage-and-noise (SLNR), and so on. This is not a limitation of the present application. Unless otherwise specified, the precoding matrix (or vector) referred to in the following may refer to a precoding matrix (or vector) determined by the network device based on the terminal device feedback.

2. Channel Quality Indication (CQI): may be used to indicate channel quality. The CQI may be characterized by, for example, a signal to noise ratio (SNR), a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), and the like. The CQI may be used to determine a Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS). In downlink transmission, the network device may determine an MCS corresponding to channel quality based on the CQI fed back by the terminal device to encode and modulate a signal to be transmitted. For example, the network device may determine the MCS corresponding to the currently fed back CQI according to a predefined correspondence between the CQI and the MCS.

It should be understood that the SNR and SINR used for characterizing the CQI and the corresponding relationship between the listed CQI and MCS are only examples, and should not limit the present application in any way. The present application is not limited to the specific content and indication manner of the CQI. The present application is also not limited to the relation between CQI and MCS.

3. Reporting bandwidth (reporting band): in this embodiment of the present application, the reporting bandwidth may refer to a bandwidth configured by a network device through a reporting bandwidth (CSI-reporting band) field length in an Information Element (IE) CSI reporting configuration (CSI-reporting configuration) in a higher layer signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) message). The information element CSI-reporting band may be used to indicate a set of consecutive or non-consecutive subbands in BWP for which CSI needs to be reported. The information element csi-ReportingBand may be a bitmap, for example. Each bit may correspond to a sub-band in the reporting bandwidth. Therefore, the length of the bitmap can indicate the number of sub-bands included in the reporting bandwidth. Each bit in the bitmap may be used to indicate whether the corresponding subband needs to report CSI. For example, when the indication bit is "1", the corresponding subband needs to report CSI; when the indication bit is "0", the corresponding subband does not need to report the CSI. It should be understood that the values of the indicator bits recited herein are meant to be exemplary only and should not be construed as limiting the application in any way.

In one possible design, the reporting bandwidth may be BWP. That is, the length of the bitmap for indicating the reporting bandwidth may be the same as the number of subbands included in BWP.

The sub-band may refer to a sub-band on which CQI is reported, or a frequency domain unit on which CQI is reported. The terminal device may receive a reference signal over the reporting bandwidth to perform channel measurement and report CQI.

It should be understood that the above-listed signaling for configuring the reporting bandwidth and the signaling for indicating the sub-band to be reported are only examples, and should not limit the present application in any way. The signaling for indicating the reporting bandwidth, the signaling for indicating the sub-band to be reported and the specific indication mode are not limited in the present application.

In addition, the reporting bandwidth may be continuous or discontinuous, which is not limited in this application.

Since the following description will refer to the sub-band on which PMI reporting is based, for the sake of distinction, the following description is made here: the sub-band configured in the reporting bandwidth refers to a sub-band on which CQI reporting is based, that is, a first type of frequency domain unit described later, and the granularity of the first type of frequency domain unit may be a pre-configured first granularity.

4. Pilot frequency density: a ratio of Resource Element (RE) occupied by the reference signal of the same port to the total number of RBs in the occupied bandwidth. For example, the pilot density of the reference signal of a certain port is 1, which may indicate that, in the bandwidth occupied by the reference signal of this port, there is one RE in each RB for carrying the reference signal of this port; for another example, the pilot density of the reference signal of a certain port is 0.5, which may indicate that, in the bandwidth occupied by the reference signal of the port, one RB of every two RBs includes an RE carrying the reference signal of the port, or that one RB is separated from adjacent RBs carrying the reference signal of the port.

In current protocols, the pilot density may include 3,1, or 0.5.

For ease of understanding, fig. 2 and 3 show two examples of pilot densities of 1 and 0.5, respectively. It should be understood that the drawings are only for convenience of understanding, and only show the case where the reference signal of one port is distributed in 4 RBs, but this should not constitute any limitation to the present application. The present application does not limit the number of RBs included in the bandwidth occupied by the reference signal of one port. The number of REs occupied by the reference signal of one port in one RB is not limited in the present application. The number of ports of the reference signal that can be carried in each RB is also not limited in the present application.

Fig. 2 shows an example of pilot density 1. As shown, there is one RE in each RB for carrying reference signals of the same port. In the figure, the 1 st subcarrier and the 0 th symbol of each RB carry a reference signal. Therefore, when the pilot density is 1, each RB carries one reference signal in the bandwidth occupied by the reference signal of the port.

Fig. 3 shows an example of a pilot density of 0.5. As shown, there is one RE in each two RBs for carrying reference signals of the same port. In the figure, the RE of the 1 st subcarrier and the 0 th symbol in RB #0 and RB #2 carries a reference signal, while the RE in RB #1 and RB #3 does not carry a reference signal. Therefore, when the pilot density is 0.5, adjacent RBs for carrying reference signals of the same port are spaced by one RB. Or, every other RB, there is one RB carrying the reference signal.

It should be understood that, although not shown in the figure, those skilled in the art may understand that the two REs for carrying the reference signal may also be the 1 st subcarrier and the 0 th symbol REs in RB #1 and RB #3, respectively, and the REs in RB #0 and RB #2 may not carry the reference signal.

It should also be understood that the above-listed pilot densities are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way. The specific value of the pilot density is not limited in the present application.

5. Frequency domain unit: the unit of the frequency domain resource can represent different frequency domain resource granularities. The frequency domain units may include, but are not limited to, subbands (subbands), Resource Blocks (RBs), Resource Block Groups (RBGs), precoding resource block groups (PRGs), and the like, for example.

In the embodiments of the present application, different types of frequency domain units may be defined based on different functions. Specifically, the frequency domain unit on which the CQI is reported, or the frequency domain unit corresponding to the CQI report, may be referred to as a first class of frequency domain unit. The frequency domain unit on which the PMI is reported, or the frequency domain unit corresponding to the PMI report, may be referred to as a second class frequency domain unit. In the embodiment of the present application, the first type of frequency domain units may be replaced by CQI subbands, and the second type of frequency domain units may be replaced by PMI subbands.

Here, the frequency domain unit corresponding to CQI reporting may specifically be that CQI is reported based on the frequency domain unit, and the network device may determine an MCS used for transmitting a signal according to the CQI reported based on multiple frequency domain units.

The frequency domain unit corresponding to PMI report may specifically refer to reporting a PMI based on the frequency domain unit, and the network device may determine, based on the PMI, a precoding matrix used by data transmission in the frequency domain unit.

The frequency domain elements of the first type and the frequency domain elements of the second type may have the same granularity, or alternatively, may have different granularities.

Wherein the granularity of the first type of frequency domain unit on which CQI reporting is based may be pre-configured. The granularity of the second type of frequency domain unit on which PMI reporting is based may also be predetermined. For the convenience of differentiation and description, the pre-configured granularity of the frequency domain unit for CQI reporting is referred to as a first granularity, and the pre-determined granularity of the frequency domain unit for PMI reporting is referred to as a second granularity.

Optionally, the first granularity is greater than the second granularity. In the embodiment of the present application, different granularities may be distinguished by the number of RBs included. For example, the first granularity is smaller than the second granularity, which may specifically mean that the number of RBs included in the first granularity is smaller than the number of RBs included in the second granularity.

The network device may indicate the first granularity to the terminal device through signaling, or configure the first granularity through signaling. The first granularity may be configured, for example, by a higher layer signaling CSI reporting configuration (CSI-ReportConfig). The first granularity may be specifically indicated by a subband granularity (subband size) field in the CSI reporting configuration. In other words, the first granularity may be a preconfigured subband granularity.

The network device may also signal a ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity to the terminal device. The ratio R may also be indicated by higher layer signaling, for example. The second particle size may be determined according to the first particle size and a ratio R of the first particle size to the second particle size. For example, the first granularity includes a RB number denoted N₁And the number of RBs contained in the second granularity is denoted as N₂Then N is₂＝N₁and/R. When R is 1, the first particle size and the second particle size are the same particle size; when R is greater than 1, the first particle size is greater than the second particle size.

In one possible design, R ═ 2. That is, the ratio of the first particle size to the second particle size is 2. Alternatively, the first granularity includes twice as many RBs as the second granularity.

It should be noted that, since the first granularity is pre-configured, the second granularity is predetermined. In the reporting bandwidth actually configured for the terminal device, it cannot be guaranteed that all the granularities of the first type of frequency domain units are equal to the first granularity, and thus it cannot be guaranteed that all the granularities of the second type of frequency domain units are equal to the second granularity.

This is mainly because the starting position of the bandwidth part (BWP) is different from the reference point of the subband. Specifically, in NR, on each carrier frequency, RBs are divided in units of 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain, and the division of the RBs is "point a (point a)", which is a common reference point. Specifically, a Common Resource Block (CRB) number may start from 0, for example, denoted as CRB 0. The midpoint of subcarrier 0 in CRB0 in the frequency domain may correspond to point a, and point a may be configured by a network device for a terminal device. The division of subbands may be referenced to CRB 0.

On the other hand, on the same carrier frequency, up to 4 BWPs may be configured, each BWP may be composed of multiple consecutive Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), and each PRB in each BWP may be numbered from 0. BWP is divided into several sub-bands, each sub-band consisting of a set of consecutive PRBs, the sub-band division being referenced to CRB 0. Thus, the size of the first sub-band and the last sub-band within BWP is not necessarily equal to the pre-configured sub-band granularity.

It should be understood that the above PRBs and RBs may represent the same meaning when used to represent physical resources.

For ease of understanding, fig. 4 shows an example of BWP, sub-band and reporting bandwidth. As shown, the reference point for sub-band division is CRB #0 in the figure. The start position of BWP is determined according to the signaling configured by the network device for the terminal device. The starting position of BWP may be aligned with the starting point of a certain RB, or may not be aligned with the starting point of any RB; the end position of BWP may be aligned with the end point of a certain RB or may not be aligned with the start point of any RB. The figure shows an example where the start position of BWP is not aligned with the start point of RB and the end position of BWP is not aligned with the end point of RB.

On the other hand, the reporting bandwidth may be the same as the BWP configured by the network device for the terminal device. Therefore, the starting position of the reporting bandwidth coincides with the starting position of the BWP, and the ending position of the reporting bandwidth also coincides with the ending position of the BWP. In this case, the first sub-band in the reporting bandwidth is an incomplete sub-band, and the last sub-band in the reporting bandwidth is also an incomplete sub-band. That is, the granularity of the first sub-band in the reported bandwidth is not a preconfigured sub-band granularity, and the granularity of the last sub-band in the reported bandwidth is not a preconfigured sub-band granularity.

It should be understood that the figure is merely an example, and shows BWP as an example of reporting bandwidth. However, this should not be construed as limiting the present application, and the present application is not limited to the relationship between the BWP and the reported bandwidth. For example, one or more reporting bandwidths may also be included in BWP. When the boundary of the reporting bandwidth coincides with the boundary of BWP, it is possible that the first sub-band or the last sub-band in the reporting bandwidth is an incomplete sub-band. Here, the boundary may include a start position and an end position.

It should also be understood that the preconfigured subband granularity described above may be the subband granularity configured for CQI reporting, i.e., may be an example of the preconfigured first granularity in the embodiments of the present application. The sub-band described above may be a sub-band configured for CQI reporting, that is, may be an example of the first type of frequency domain unit in this embodiment. As can be seen from the above description, the granularity of the frequency-domain elements of the first type is not necessarily a preconfigured first granularity.

As previously described, the second granularity may be determined based on the first granularity and the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity. In order to obtain more accurate PMI feedback of the terminal device, R may be designed to be a value greater than 1, for example, R is 2.

On the other hand, the network device may map the reference signals to the corresponding RBs according to the pre-configured pilot signals for transmission, so that the terminal device performs channel measurement according to the reference signals received on the reporting bandwidth. The pre-configured pilot density may be 1 or less than 1, such as 0.5. When the pilot density is 0.5, i.e., one RB in every two RBs carries a reference signal. However, if the first sub-band or the last sub-band in the reporting bandwidth is an incomplete sub-band, then after the sub-band is divided according to the second granularity, the pilot density in the divided sub-band may be less than the preconfigured pilot density.

For example, the first sub-band (i.e. an example of the first type of frequency domain unit, which is denoted as CQI sub-band for convenience of distinction) in the reporting bandwidth includes 2 RBs, and the pilot density is 0.5, then 1 RB of the 2 RBs carries a reference signal, and another RB does not carry a reference signal. However, when R is 2, the subband is further divided into two subbands with smaller granularity (i.e., an example of the second type of frequency domain unit, which is referred to as PMI subband for convenience of description), and each PMI subband includes only 1 RB. At this time, there is necessarily one PMI subband carrying no reference signal, that is, the pilot density in the PMI subband is 0, which is less than the preconfigured pilot density of 0.5. The terminal equipment does not receive the reference signal on the PMI subband, and cannot perform channel measurement based on the PMI subband. Even if the pilot density of the PMI sub-band is not 0, if the pilot density is less than the preconfigured pilot density of 0.5, the result obtained by the terminal device performing channel measurement on the PMI sub-band is not accurate. Therefore, accurate feedback for the PMI subband cannot be obtained.

In view of this, the present application provides a communication method to avoid the situation that the pilot density in the PMI sub-band is smaller than the preconfigured pilot density, so as to obtain more accurate PMI feedback, thereby achieving the effect of improving the data transmission performance.

To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following description is made.

First, in this embodiment of the present application, a reporting bandwidth may be used to configure a CQI sub-band to be reported. But this does not represent that every CQI sub-band in the reporting bandwidth needs to report a CQI. As described above, the network device may indicate, through a bitmap, whether each CQI sub-band in the reporting bandwidth needs to report a CQI. The terminal equipment can determine the position and the number of the sub-bands of the CQI to be reported according to the bitmap. Since the boundaries of the reporting bandwidth may not align with the boundaries of the CQI sub-bands, it cannot be guaranteed that each CQI sub-band in the reporting bandwidth meets the pre-configured pilot density. For example, when a CQI sub-band at the edge of the reporting bandwidth contains an odd number of RBs and the pilot density is 0.5, the pilot density in the CQI sub-band may be greater than 0.5 or less than 0.5. If the pilot frequency density is less than 0.5, the network equipment does not configure the CQI sub-band as the sub-band to be reported in the bitmap corresponding to the reporting bandwidth. For example, the indicator bit corresponding to the CQI subband in the bitmap is always "0". But if the pilot density is greater than 0.5, the CQI sub-band is a sub-band that can be configured as a CQI to be reported.

For ease of understanding and explanation, the description in the embodiments below assumes that the pilot density of the first frequency domain unit located at the reporting bandwidth edge is greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density. That is, the first frequency domain unit at the reporting bandwidth edge may be configured as a sub-band for CQI to be reported.

Second, in the embodiments of the present application, for convenience of description, when numbering is referred to, numbering may be continued from 0. E.g., RB #0, CRB #0, etc., which are not illustrated one by one here. Of course, the specific implementation is not limited to this, and for example, the numbers may be sequentially numbered from 1. It should be understood that the above descriptions are provided for convenience of describing the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application.

Third, in the embodiments of the present application, "indication" may include a direct indication and an indirect indication, and may also include an explicit indication and an implicit indication. If the information indicated by a certain piece of information (such as configuration information described below) is referred to as information to be indicated, in a specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated, for example, but not limited to, the information to be indicated may be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or an index of the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, wherein an association relationship exists between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the other part of the information to be indicated is known or predetermined. For example, the indication of the specific information may be implemented by means of a predetermined arrangement order of the respective information (e.g., protocol specification), thereby reducing the indication overhead to some extent.

Fourth, in the embodiments shown below, terms and acronyms such as Downlink Control Information (DCI), Radio Resource Control (RRC), pilot density, subband (subband), CQI, PMI, RI, etc. are given as an illustrative example for convenience of description, and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way. This application is not intended to exclude the possibility that other terms may be defined in existing or future protocols to carry out the same or similar functions.

Fifth, the first, second and various numerical numbers in the embodiments shown below are merely for convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, different indication information, different frequency domain units, etc. are distinguished.

Sixth, in the embodiments shown below, "pre-configuration" may mean that the network device indicates to the terminal device in advance through signaling, so that the terminal device determines the corresponding content according to the signaling, and may save the content in advance. For example, the network device pre-configures the first granularity for the terminal device, which may mean that the network device indicates the first granularity to the terminal device in advance through signaling, so that the terminal device determines the first granularity according to the signaling, and may pre-store a value of the first granularity.

"predefined" may refer to predefined, e.g., protocol predefined. The "predefining" may be implemented by pre-saving a corresponding code, table, or other means that can be used to indicate the relevant information in a device (e.g., including a terminal device and/or a network device), and the specific implementation manner of the present application is not limited thereto.

As used herein, "stored" may refer to being stored in one or more memories of a device (e.g., a terminal device and/or a network device as described above). The one or more memories may be provided separately or integrated in the encoder or decoder, the processor, or the communication device. The one or more memories may also be provided separately, with a portion of the one or more memories being integrated into the decoder, the processor, or the communication device. The type of memory may be any form of storage medium and is not intended to be limiting of the present application.

Seventh, the "protocol" referred to in this embodiment may refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, for example, the standard protocol may include an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and a related protocol applied in a future communication system, which is not limited in this application.

Eighth, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of the singular or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, and c, may represent: a, or b, or c, or a and b, or a and c, or b and c, or a, b and c, wherein a, b and c can be single or multiple.

Ninth, in the embodiment of the present application, for convenience of differentiation and description, a frequency domain unit based on CQI reporting is referred to as a first class of frequency domain unit, and a frequency domain unit based on PMI reporting is referred to as a second class of frequency domain unit. The first type of frequency domain elements may include one or more first frequency domain elements and one or more second frequency domain elements. The first frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit at the edge of the reporting bandwidth, and the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit in the reporting bandwidth except the first frequency domain unit. The granularity of the first frequency domain unit may be less than the preconfigured first granularity or may be equal to the preconfigured first granularity; the granularity of the second frequency domain unit is equal to the preconfigured first granularity. Dividing each second frequency domain unit can obtain a plurality of third frequency domain units, and the granularity of the third frequency domain units is a predetermined second granularity. One or more fourth frequency domain elements may be determined from one first frequency domain element. For example, the first frequency domain unit is directly determined as the fourth frequency domain unit, or the first frequency domain unit is divided into a plurality of fourth frequency domain units. The granularity of the fourth frequency domain unit may be smaller than the second granularity, may also be equal to the second granularity, and may also be larger than the second granularity, which is not limited in this application. It is to be understood that the first frequency domain unit and the second frequency domain unit both belong to a first class of frequency domain units. The third frequency domain unit and the fourth frequency domain unit both belong to a second class of frequency domain units.

The communication method and the communication apparatus provided in the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the technical solution of the present application can be applied to a wireless communication system, for example, the communication system 100 shown in fig. 1. Two communication devices in a wireless communication system may have a wireless communication connection relationship therebetween, and one of the two communication devices may correspond to the terminal equipment 120 shown in fig. 1, for example, may be the terminal equipment shown in fig. 1, or may be a chip configured in the terminal equipment; the other of the two communication apparatuses may correspond to the network device 110 shown in fig. 1, and for example, may be the network device shown in fig. 1, or may be a chip configured in the network device.

Hereinafter, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail by taking an interaction process between a terminal device and a network device as an example without loss of generality. For ease of understanding, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described below by taking downlink transmission as an example.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method 400 provided by an embodiment of the present application, shown from the perspective of device interaction. As shown, the method 400 shown in fig. 5 may include steps 410 through 440. The method 400 is described in detail below with reference to the figures.

In step 410, the network device determines a reporting bandwidth, which includes a plurality of frequency domain units of a first type on which CQI reporting is based.

Specifically, the plurality of first type frequency domain units includes one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units. The first frequency domain unit may be, for example, a first frequency domain unit or a last frequency domain unit in the reporting bandwidth. Or, the first frequency domain unit may be a frequency domain unit reporting a bandwidth edge.

In an embodiment of the application, the granularity of the first frequency-domain element is smaller than a preconfigured first granularity. Referring to fig. 4, the first CQI sub-band and the last CQI sub-band in the reporting bandwidth shown in fig. 4 are both incomplete first class frequency domain units, or the granularity of the first CQI sub-band and the last CQI sub-band in the reporting bandwidth is smaller than the preconfigured first granularity.

It is to be understood that the reporting bandwidth may include an incomplete first-type frequency domain unit, may include two incomplete first-type frequency domain units, and may not include an incomplete first-type frequency domain unit. The method provided by the present application is mainly a technical solution proposed for a case where the reporting bandwidth includes an incomplete first-class frequency domain unit, and a detailed description is not given here for a case where the reporting bandwidth does not include an incomplete first-class frequency domain unit. In other words, the first frequency domain unit may be an incomplete first type frequency domain unit, or may be two incomplete first type frequency domain units. The granularity of the second frequency domain element may be a preconfigured first granularity. The second frequency domain unit may be, for example, a frequency domain unit other than the first frequency domain unit and the last frequency domain unit in the reporting bandwidth. The second frequency domain units all belong to the first class of frequency domain units.

In step 420, the network device sends first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a reporting bandwidth. Correspondingly, in step 420, the terminal device receives the first indication information.

The terminal device may determine the reporting bandwidth according to the first indication information sent by the network device. The first indication information may be, for example, the CSI reporting configuration described above. The CSI reporting configuration may carry IE CSI-reporting band for indicating the frequency domain unit of the CQI to be reported. Since the specific indication manner of the reported bandwidth is described in detail above, it is not described herein again for brevity.

In step 430, the terminal device determines a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on which PMI is reported in the reporting bandwidth. The plurality of second-class frequency domain units comprise one or more first frequency domain units and a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing the one or more second frequency domain units.

Specifically, the terminal device may determine the reporting bandwidth according to the first indication information, and further determine the plurality of second-class frequency domain units on which the PMI is reported in the reporting bandwidth. In this embodiment, the terminal device may not divide the first frequency domain unit, and directly uses the first frequency domain unit as the second type frequency domain unit. In other words, the terminal device may only divide the second frequency domain unit to obtain a plurality of second-class frequency domain units including a plurality of third frequency domain units and one or more first frequency domain units.

Since the first frequency-domain unit, when selected as the frequency-domain unit for which CQI is to be reported, has already determined that the pilot density of the first frequency-domain unit is greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density. When the frequency domain unit reported by the PMI is determined, the first frequency domain unit is not divided, so the pilot frequency density of the second frequency domain unit reported by the PMI is also larger than or equal to the pre-configured pilot frequency density.

Optionally, the method further comprises: and the terminal equipment divides the one or more second frequency domain units into a plurality of third frequency domain units.

The terminal device may divide each second frequency domain unit into a plurality of third frequency domain units. A plurality of third frequency domain units may be partitioned by one or more of the second frequency domain units. Optionally, the terminal device divides the one or more second frequency domain units into a plurality of third frequency domain units according to a predetermined second granularity. And ensuring that the granularity of each third frequency domain unit obtained by division is the second granularity.

Thus, the terminal device may determine the second granularity prior to partitioning the second frequency-domain elements.

As previously described, both the second granularity and the first granularity may be characterized by the number of RBs included, respectively. Optionally, the second granularity comprises a number N of RBs₂＝N₁/R，N₁Indicating the number of RBs contained in the preconfigured first granularity, R being the ratio of the first granularity to the second granularity, R, N₁And N₂Are all positive integers. Therefore, the terminal device may determine the second granularity according to the preconfigured first granularity and the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity.

For example, the second granularity includes a number of RBs, e.g., denoted as N₂The number of RBs included in the first granularity is denoted as N₁，N₁May be determined by a preconfigured first granularity. Then N is₂＝N₁and/R. E.g. N₁When R is 2, then N₂＝4。

The first granularity may be configured by the network device through signaling, for example. For example, a subband granularity (subband size) field in a CSI reporting configuration indicates a first granularity.

In addition, the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity may be predefined by a protocol or may be configured by a network device through signaling.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the terminal equipment receives second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity. Correspondingly, the network equipment sends the second indication information.

In one implementation, the second indication information may directly indicate the value of R. For example, when the second indication information indicates that R is 2, the terminal device may determine that R is not 1. Thus, the second indication information implicitly indicates that the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is not 1.

In another implementation, the second indication information may also directly indicate whether the value of R is 2 through an indication bit. For example, when the indication bit is "1", it indicates that R is 2; when the indication bit is "0", R is 1. In this case, the terminal device may determine whether the R value is 1 according to the indication bit. This in effect implicitly indicates the specific value of R.

In one possible design, the second indication information may be carried by the same signaling as the first indication information. The signaling may be, for example, higher layer signaling, such as RRC messages.

It should be understood that the present application is not limited to the method of indicating whether the value of R is 1 and the specific value of R. For example, the R value may have more optional values.

After determining the second granularity, the terminal device may partition each second frequency domain unit. Since each second frequency-domain element is a complete frequency-domain element of the first type, whose granularity is a preconfigured first granularity, the value determined by the ratio of the first granularity to R is the second granularity. Therefore, the terminal device divides the one or more second frequency domain units into a plurality of third frequency domain units according to the predetermined second granularity, or alternatively, the terminal device divides the one or more second frequency domain units into a plurality of third frequency domain units according to the ratio R of the pre-configured first granularity to the second granularity.

In the current protocol, the granularity of CQI reporting (i.e., the first granularity) includes a multiple of 4 RBs. For example, the first granularity may include 4 RBs, 8 RBs, or 16 RBs. And the ratio R of the first particle size to the second particle size is 1 or 2. The second granularity therefore contains an even number of RBs. In addition, the pilot density defined in the current protocol is a minimum of 0.5. That is, one RB carries a reference signal on every two RBs. Therefore, the pilot density of each third frequency domain unit obtained after a complete first class frequency domain unit is divided can be guaranteed to be the pre-configured pilot density.

It should be noted that, dividing the first-class frequency domain units into a plurality of second-class frequency domain units is a step performed when the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is not 1. If the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is 1, or the first granularity is equal to the second granularity, the terminal device does not need to execute step 430. The present application is primarily directed to the case where the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is not 1.

Optionally, the terminal device only divides one or more second frequency domain units into a plurality of third frequency domain units, and does not divide the first frequency domain unit, when the granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than the preconfigured first granularity.

That is, the terminal device may first determine whether the first frequency domain unit is a complete first class of frequency domain units. In the case that the first frequency domain unit is an incomplete first class of frequency domain unit, the first frequency domain unit is not divided, and only the second frequency domain unit is divided.

It should be understood that the terminal device may not determine in advance whether the granularity of the first frequency-domain element is smaller than the preconfigured first granularity. That is, regardless of whether the granularity of a first frequency-domain element is less than the first granularity, the terminal device may partition only a second frequency-domain element without partitioning the first frequency-domain element.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of dividing the reporting bandwidth into a plurality of frequency domain units of the second type. As shown in the figure, the reporting bandwidth includes N +2 first-class frequency domain units. The N +2 first-class frequency domain units specifically include 2 first frequency domain units and N second frequency domain units. The granularity of the 2 first frequency domain units is smaller than the pre-configured first granularity, so that the 2 first frequency domain units are not divided. The 2 first frequency-domain units can be directly treated as the second type of frequency-domain units. In N second frequency domain units in the reporting bandwidth except for the two first frequency domain units, the granularity of each second frequency domain unit is a preconfigured first granularity. The N second frequency domain units may thus be divided according to a predetermined second granularity. Fig. 6 shows an example where R is 2. That is, the second granularity is 1/2 of the first granularity. The N first frequency domain units may be divided into 2N third frequency domain units. That is, each of the N second frequency domain units is divided into two third frequency domain units of the same size. The granularity of each third frequency domain unit is the second granularity. Therefore, the N +2 first-type frequency domain units can be divided into 2N +2 second-type frequency domain units. Moreover, the granularity of the two second-class frequency domain units at the reporting bandwidth edge is not necessarily the predetermined second granularity. It should be understood that fig. 6 is shown only for ease of understanding and should not constitute any limitation on the present application.

It can be seen that if the number of frequency domain elements of the first type is N_SB(N_SBIs a positive integer), the ratio of the first granularity to the second granularity is R, the number N of the second type frequency domain units₃(N₃Is a positive integer) may be N₃＝(N_SB-a) xr + a, a representing the number of incomplete first type frequency domain elements at the reporting bandwidth edge, a being a positive integer. If R is 2, the above formula can be simplified as follows: n is a radical of₃＝2N_SB-a. In step 440, the network device determines a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on which PMI is reported in the reporting bandwidth. The plurality of second-class frequency domain units comprise one or more first frequency domain units and a plurality of second frequency domain units obtained by dividing the one or more second frequency domain unitsA three-frequency domain unit.

It should be appreciated that the specific process by which the network device determines the second type of frequency domain elements in step 440 is similar to the specific process by which the terminal device determines the second type of frequency domain elements in step 430. For brevity, no further description is provided herein.

Therefore, both the terminal equipment and the network equipment can respectively determine the second type frequency domain unit based on the PMI reporting according to the reporting bandwidth. After that, the terminal device may report the PMI on the basis of the determined second-class frequency domain units, and the network device may determine, according to the received PMI and the determined second-class frequency domain units, precoding matrices corresponding to the second-class frequency domain units.

In one implementation, for each frequency domain unit of the second class, the terminal device may estimate a downlink channel based on the received reference signal. The terminal device may perform Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) on the downlink channel or the covariance matrix of the downlink channel, or perform eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) on the covariance matrix of the downlink channel to determine the precoding matrix corresponding to the second class of frequency domain units. The precoding matrix is determined based on the reference signals received over the second type of frequency domain elements and is thus a channel-adapted precoding matrix for the second type of frequency domain elements.

It should be understood that the specific process of channel measurement and reporting by the terminal device based on the reference signal may be the same as the prior art. For example, the PMI may be reported in a feedback manner defined by a type i (type i) codebook, a type ii (type ii) codebook, a dual-domain compression codebook adopted in the current standard development, and the like defined in the current protocol. For the sake of brevity, this will not be described in detail here. In addition, the specific methods for determining the precoding matrix and indicating the precoding matrix by the terminal device are not limited in the present application.

It should also be understood that the specific methods listed above for determining the precoding matrix by the terminal device and the codebook based on the specific methods are only examples and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. Since the specific processes of generating the PMI by the terminal device and determining the precoding matrix according to the PMI by the network device may refer to the prior art, detailed description is not provided herein for brevity.

Therefore, in the technical solution provided by the present application, the first frequency domain unit at the reporting bandwidth edge is processed separately. Specifically, in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first frequency domain unit is not divided, so as to ensure that the pilot density is greater than or equal to the pre-configured pilot density, and thus, it may be beneficial for the terminal device to obtain accurate PMI feedback when performing channel measurement on each second frequency domain unit. The network device may determine a precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit according to the PMI feedback for data transmission. Thus contributing to an improvement in data transmission performance.

In fact, when the granularity of the first frequency domain unit or the last frequency domain unit of the reporting bandwidth is the preconfigured first granularity, the first frequency domain unit or the last frequency domain unit may not be divided according to the method provided by the present application. In this case, the granularity of the first frequency-domain unit is a preconfigured first granularity. After the first frequency domain unit is directly used as the second type frequency domain unit, the granularity of the second type frequency domain unit is also the first granularity.

For a better understanding of the method provided by the present application, the following is described in more detail in connection with the communication method 400 provided by the above embodiment of fig. 7.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method 500 provided by an embodiment of the present application, shown from the perspective of device interaction. As shown, the method 500 shown in fig. 7 may include steps 501 through 510. The method 500 is described in detail below with reference to the figures.

In step 501, the network device determines a reporting bandwidth, where the reporting bandwidth includes a plurality of first type frequency domain units on which CQI reporting is based.

Specifically, the plurality of first-type frequency domain units includes one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units. Wherein the granularity of the first frequency domain element may be less than the preconfigured first granularity. The granularity of the second frequency domain element may be equal to the preconfigured first granularity. In other words, the plurality of frequency domain elements of the first type may include one or more incomplete frequency domain elements of the first type and one or more complete frequency domain elements of the first type.

In step 502, the network device sends first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a reporting bandwidth. Correspondingly, the terminal equipment receives the first indication information.

For the detailed description of steps 501 to 502, reference may be made to steps 410 to 420 in method 400 above. For brevity, no further description is provided herein.

In step 503, the terminal device determines the reporting bandwidth according to the first indication information.

The terminal device may determine the reporting bandwidth according to the first indication information sent by the network device. Since the specific indication manner of the reporting bandwidth has been described in detail in conjunction with the specific signaling, for the sake of brevity, it is not described here again.

In step 504, the terminal device determines that the granularity of the first frequency-domain element is less than the preconfigured first granularity.

The first frequency domain unit may refer to a first frequency domain unit and/or a last frequency domain unit in a reporting bandwidth. After receiving the configuration signaling of the reporting bandwidth, the terminal device may determine, according to the preconfigured first granularity, whether the granularity of the frequency domain unit at the edge of the reporting bandwidth is the preconfigured first granularity. The first-class frequency-domain units at the edge of the reporting bandwidth may include, for example, the first-class frequency-domain unit and the last first-class frequency-domain unit in the reporting bandwidth.

When the number of RBs included in the first class of frequency domain unit at the edge of the reporting bandwidth is smaller than the number of RBs included in the preconfigured first granularity, the first class of frequency domain unit may be considered to be an incomplete first class of frequency domain unit.

It is to be understood that the reporting bandwidth may include an incomplete first-type frequency domain unit, may include two incomplete first-type frequency domain units, and may not include an incomplete first-type frequency domain unit. The method provided by the application is mainly a technical scheme provided for the condition that the reporting bandwidth includes the incomplete first-class frequency domain units, and the reporting bandwidth does not include the incomplete first-class frequency domain units, and the reporting bandwidth can be divided according to the pre-configured second granularity. And will not be described in detail here.

In other words, the first frequency domain unit may be one first type frequency domain unit or two first type frequency domain units.

Corresponding to the first frequency domain unit and the second frequency domain unit described in the method 400, the reporting bandwidth includes one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units. The granularity of each second frequency-domain element is the first granularity.

In step 505, the terminal device divides one or more first-type frequency domain units, except the first frequency domain unit, in the reporting bandwidth into a plurality of second-type frequency domain units.

Specifically, the terminal device may divide each complete first-class frequency domain unit in the reporting bandwidth into a plurality of second-class frequency domain units according to a predetermined second granularity. And the granularity of each second-class frequency domain unit obtained by the terminal equipment by dividing each complete first-class frequency domain unit is the second granularity. For an incomplete first-class frequency domain unit, the terminal device may not divide it. In other words, the terminal device may directly determine the first frequency domain unit as a second type of frequency domain unit. Since the granularity of the first frequency-domain unit may be equal to the second granularity, it may also be greater or less than the second granularity. Thus, the granularity of the second type of frequency-domain elements directly determined by the first frequency-domain element is not necessarily a predetermined second granularity. In other words, the actual granularity of the second type of frequency domain elements is not necessarily the second granularity.

Corresponding to the first frequency domain unit and the third frequency domain unit described in the method 400, the plurality of second-class frequency domain units obtained by dividing the reporting bandwidth may include one or more first frequency domain units and a plurality of third frequency domain units. The granularity of each third frequency domain unit is the second granularity.

Further, a ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity may be predefined, e.g., protocol predefined. In this case, the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity may be a fixed value. The ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity may also be pre-configured by the network device. In this case, the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity may be a variable.

If the ratio R between the first granularity and the second granularity is preconfigured by the network device, optionally, before step 505, the method further includes step 506: and the terminal equipment receives second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is not 1. Correspondingly, the network device sends the second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is not 1.

The specific process of indicating the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity has been described in detail in the method 400, and for brevity, will not be described again here.

After determining the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity, the terminal device may further determine the second granularity. Optionally, before step 505, the method further comprises: the terminal device determines a second granularity.

Specifically, the terminal device may determine the second granularity according to the preconfigured first granularity and the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity. The second granularity includes a number of RBs, e.g., denoted as N₂The number of RBs included in the first granularity is denoted as N₁，N₁May be determined by a pre-configured first granularity. Then N is₂＝N₁and/R. E.g. N₁When R is 2, then N₂＝4。

Since the ratio between the first granularity and the second granularity may be preconfigured through signaling, when the terminal device performs step 505 to divide other complete first-class frequency domain units except the first frequency domain unit, it may also directly divide one or more first-class frequency domain units except the first frequency domain unit in the reporting bandwidth into a plurality of second-class frequency domain units according to the ratio R of the preconfigured first granularity and the second granularity. That is to say, in step 505, the terminal device divides one or more first-class frequency domain units, except the first frequency domain unit, in the reporting bandwidth into a plurality of second-class frequency domain units according to a predetermined second granularity, alternatively, the terminal device divides one or more first-class frequency domain units, except the first frequency domain unit, in the reporting bandwidth into a plurality of second-class frequency domain units according to a ratio R of a first preset granularity to a second preset granularity.

For example, when R ═ 2, each complete first-type frequency domain unit can be directly divided into two second-type frequency domain units of the same size.

The ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity may be configured through higher layer signaling, such as RRC message, for example. This is not a limitation of the present application.

The network device may also configure the pilot density through higher layer signaling, such as RRC messages. The terminal device may receive the reference signal on the reporting bandwidth according to the preconfigured pilot density to perform channel measurement.

However, as mentioned above, the first frequency domain unit at the edge of the reporting bandwidth is not a complete first frequency domain unit, and if it is divided, the pilot density of the divided second frequency domain unit may be smaller than the pre-configured pilot density. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, when the granularity of the first class frequency domain unit at the edge of the reporting bandwidth is smaller than the preconfigured first granularity, the first class frequency domain unit is not divided, and the original pilot density can still be maintained. That is, it is ensured that the pilot density of the first frequency domain elements is greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density without the possibility that the pilot density of one or more of the second type frequency domain elements is less than the preconfigured pilot density due to the incomplete division of the first type frequency domain elements into the plurality of second type frequency domain elements.

In fact, the terminal device may not determine whether the granularity of the first frequency domain unit at the reporting bandwidth edge is smaller than the preconfigured first granularity. That is, the terminal device may still not divide the first frequency-domain unit if the granularity of the first frequency-domain unit is the preconfigured first granularity. The computational complexity of the terminal device can thereby be reduced. In this case, the terminal device may directly perform step 505 described above without performing step 504.

In step 507, the terminal device transmits a PMI indicating precoding matrices respectively corresponding to the first frequency domain unit and each of the plurality of second type frequency domain units. Correspondingly, in step 507, the network device receives the PMI.

Specifically, the terminal device may perform channel measurement respectively based on the frequency domain units of the second type determined in step 505. The first frequency-domain unit also belongs to the second class of frequency-domain units, except that it may not have the second granularity. The terminal device may still determine the PMI based on channel measurements from reference signals received on the first frequency domain element. In other words, the PMI may be used to indicate a precoding matrix corresponding to each of the plurality of second-class frequency domain units including the first frequency domain unit.

It should be understood that, the specific process of the terminal device performing channel measurement and reporting based on the reference signal may refer to the prior art. For example, the PMI may be reported according to feedback manners defined by a type i (type i) codebook, a type ii (type ii) codebook, and a dual-domain compression codebook adopted in the current standard development, which are defined in the current protocol. Since the scheme of the present application does not relate to a specific process of generating the PMI by the terminal device, for the sake of brevity, detailed description is not provided here. In addition, the specific methods for determining the precoding matrix and indicating the precoding matrix by the terminal device are not limited in the present application.

Optionally, the PMI is carried in a CSI report. The terminal device may report the PMI to the network device through a CSI report, for example. The specific method for reporting the PMI by the terminal device through the CSI report may refer to the prior art, and for brevity, will not be described in detail here.

After the network device receives the PMI, the network device may determine, in step 508, a precoding matrix corresponding to the first frequency domain unit and a precoding matrix corresponding to each of the second type frequency domain units (i.e., the third frequency domain unit) except the first frequency domain unit according to the PMI. In other words, the network device may determine a precoding matrix corresponding to each of the plurality of second-type frequency domain units according to the PMI.

Before determining the precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit, the network device may determine the granularity of each second-class frequency domain unit.

Accordingly, the method 500 further comprises:

in step 509, the network device determines that the granularity of the first frequency-domain element is less than the preconfigured first granularity.

Step 510, the network device divides one or more first-class frequency domain units except the first frequency domain unit in the reporting bandwidth into a plurality of second-class frequency domain units.

Since the specific process of the network device to perform step 509 and step 510 is similar to the specific process of the terminal device to perform step 504 and step 505, the detailed description is omitted here for brevity.

The steps 509 and 510 are shown between the steps 507 and 508, which are only examples, but should not be construed as limiting the present application. Step 509 and step 510 may be performed before step 507, and may also be performed before step 507 as long as they are performed before step 508.

After determining the granularity of each second-class frequency domain unit, the network device may determine a precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit according to the PMI. The method for the network device to determine the precoding matrix corresponding to the second class of frequency domain unit according to the PMI corresponds to the method for the terminal device to perform channel measurement and report. The codebook type and the feedback mode based on PMI reporting can be predetermined by the network equipment and the terminal equipment, or predefined by a protocol. The terminal device and the network device may generate the PMI and decode the PMI based on the same codebook type and feedback manner, respectively.

Therefore, in the method provided in this embodiment of the present application, the first frequency domain unit at the reporting bandwidth edge is processed separately, and the first frequency domain unit at the reporting bandwidth edge may not be divided, so as to ensure that the pilot density is greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density, which may be beneficial for the terminal device to obtain accurate PMI feedback when performing channel measurement on each second frequency domain unit. The network device may determine, according to the PMI feedback, a precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit for data transmission. Thus contributing to an improvement in data transmission performance.

In fact, not all of the first frequency domain elements may be divided into frequency domain elements having a reduced pilot density, and in some cases, the pilot density within each of the second frequency domain elements may be maintained at or above the preconfigured pilot density even though the first frequency domain element is divided into a plurality of second frequency domain elements.

The present application further provides a communication method. Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method 600 of yet another embodiment of the present application, shown from the perspective of device interaction. As shown, the method 600 shown in fig. 8 may include steps 610 through 640. The method 600 is described in detail below with reference to the figures.

In step 610, the network device determines a reporting bandwidth, which includes a plurality of first type frequency domain units on which CQI reporting is based.

Specifically, the plurality of first-type frequency domain units includes one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units. Wherein the granularity of the first frequency domain unit may be smaller than the preconfigured first granularity or equal to the preconfigured first granularity. The granularity of the second frequency domain unit is a second granularity.

In step 620, the network device sends first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a reporting bandwidth. Correspondingly, the network equipment receives the first indication information.

For a detailed description of steps 610 and 620, reference may be made to steps 410 and 420 of method 400 above. For brevity, no further description is provided herein.

In step 630, the terminal device determines a plurality of second-class frequency domain units in the reporting bandwidth on which the PMI is reported. The plurality of second-type frequency domain units comprise a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing one or more second frequency domain units and a plurality of fourth frequency domain units determined by one or more first frequency domain units. At least one of the one or more first frequency domain units satisfies a predetermined condition. At least a portion of the fourth frequency domain units in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units are obtained by dividing the first frequency domain units satisfying a preset condition.

In step 640, the network device determines a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on which PMI is reported in the reporting bandwidth. The plurality of second-type frequency domain units include a plurality of third frequency domain units divided by the one or more second frequency domain units and a plurality of fourth frequency domain units determined by the one or more first frequency domain units. At least one of the one or more first frequency domain units satisfies a predetermined condition. At least a portion of the fourth frequency domain units in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units are obtained by dividing the first frequency domain units satisfying a preset condition. There may be a first frequency domain unit that does not satisfy the preset condition among the one or more first frequency domain units, and the first frequency domain unit that does not satisfy the preset condition may be directly used as the fourth frequency domain unit.

Since the second frequency-domain elements are complete frequency-domain elements of the first type, the terminal device and the network device may divide one or more of the second frequency-domain elements into a plurality of third frequency-domain elements based on the methods described in steps 430 and 440 of method 400.

However, unlike

methods

400 and 500, in method 600, the terminal device and the network device may each divide the first frequency domain unit if it is determined that the first frequency domain unit satisfies some predetermined conditions. Therefore, the terminal device and the network device may divide at least one of the one or more first frequency domain units.

After at least one of the one or more first frequency domain units is divided, a plurality of fourth frequency domain units can be obtained. The terminal device and the network device may divide the first frequency domain unit according to a predetermined second granularity, or may divide the first frequency domain unit according to a ratio of the first granularity to the second granularity. The granularity of the fourth frequency domain unit may also be different based on different partitioning.

If the first frequency domain unit is divided according to the second granularity, the granularity of at least one second frequency domain unit in the obtained plurality of second frequency domain units is the second granularity, and the granularity of at least one second frequency domain unit in the plurality of second frequency domain units is smaller than the second granularity. In other words, the granularity of the fourth frequency-domain element may be less than or equal to the second granularity. And, the granularity of the plurality of fourth frequency domain units may be different from each other.

It is to be understood that, if the first frequency domain unit is divided according to the second granularity, when the granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than or equal to the second granularity, the first frequency domain unit may not be divided. The first frequency domain unit may be directly treated as the fourth frequency domain unit. The fourth frequency domain unit may have a granularity less than the second granularity and may be equal to the second granularity.

If the first frequency domain unit is divided according to the ratio of the first granularity to the second granularity, under the condition that the first frequency domain unit is smaller than the pre-configured first granularity, the granularity determined according to the granularity of the first frequency domain unit and the ratio of the first granularity to the second granularity is smaller than the second granularity. In this case, the granularity of each of the plurality of second-class frequency-domain units obtained by dividing the first frequency-domain unit may be smaller than the second granularity. The number N of the second class frequency domain units obtained by the division₃Can satisfy the following conditions: n is a radical of₃＝N_SB×R。

It should be understood that the third frequency domain unit and the fourth frequency domain unit are both frequency domain units of the second kind. In the embodiment of the present application, for the sake of convenience of distinction only, the second-class frequency domain units obtained by dividing the second frequency domain units are referred to as third frequency domain units, and the second-class frequency domain units determined by the first frequency domain units (including divided and non-divided) are referred to as fourth frequency domain units. The granularity of the third frequency domain unit is the second granularity, and the granularity of the fourth frequency domain unit can be smaller than the second granularity or equal to the second granularity. And when the first frequency domain unit in the reporting bandwidth is divided to obtain two or more fourth frequency domain units, the granularity of the two or more fourth frequency domain units is not necessarily the same.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that when the boundary of the reporting bandwidth is not aligned with the boundary of the first-type frequency-domain elements, the granularity of the first-type frequency-domain elements and the last first-type frequency-domain elements in the reporting bandwidth may be different. Both of the first type frequency domain elements may be larger than the second granularity; may also each be less than or equal to the second particle size; it is also possible that one is larger than the second granularity and the other is smaller than or equal to the second granularity. Thus, the first class of frequency domain elements having a granularity greater than the second granularity may be partitioned according to the second granularity, and the frequency domain elements having a granularity less than or equal to the second granularity may not be partitioned.

As described above, the terminal device and the network device may divide the first frequency domain unit when it is determined that the first frequency domain unit satisfies some preset conditions. Some preset conditions are exemplarily listed below.

For example, the preset condition may be: the pre-configured pilot density for the first frequency domain unit is greater than or equal to 1.

It should be noted that the pilot density preconfigured for the first frequency domain unit is the same as the pilot density preconfigured for the reporting bandwidth. Therefore, the pre-configured pilot density for the first frequency domain unit is greater than or equal to 1, or alternatively, the pre-configured pilot density is greater than or equal to 1, or the pre-configured pilot density for the reporting bandwidth is greater than or equal to 1.

The pilot density is greater than or equal to 1, i.e., each RB carries a reference signal. The pilot density may be kept constant regardless of the division of the first frequency domain unit.

For another example, the preset condition may be: the first frequency domain unit includes a number of RBs that is a multiple of 4.

As described above, if the pilot density is equal to or greater than 1, the pilot density can be maintained regardless of the division when the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is an arbitrary value.

If the pilot density is less than 1, the pilot density defined in the current protocol is 0.5. That is, one RB in each two RBs always carries a reference signal. Furthermore, the first type of frequency domain unit currently defined in the protocol (i.e., the CQI sub-band granularity described above) may contain 4, 8, or 16 RBs. And when the particle size ratio R is not 1, R is 2. It can thus be determined that the second granularity contains a number of RBs that can be 2, 4, or 8. That is, even if the first frequency domain unit is further divided into two frequency domain units of the second type. If the number of RBs included in the first frequency-domain unit is a multiple of 4, the granularity of each second-class frequency-domain unit is still a multiple of 2, regardless of whether the first frequency-domain unit is divided into two second-class frequency-domain units according to the second granularity or the first frequency-domain unit is divided into two second-class frequency-domain units on average. This can ensure that one RB in every two RBs carries the reference signal. That is, the pilot density can be guaranteed to be 0.5.

In contrast, if the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is not a multiple of 4, after the first frequency domain unit is divided into two second frequency domain units, the number of RBs included in the second frequency domain unit may not be a multiple of 2, and it cannot be ensured that the pilot density is greater than or equal to 0.5.

That is, in the case where the preconfigured pilot density is less than 1, the preset condition may be: the first frequency domain unit contains a number of RBs that is a multiple of 4.

In other words, when the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is not a multiple of 4 and the pilot density is less than 1, the first frequency domain unit is not divided.

For another example, the preset conditions are: the first frequency domain unit includes an odd number of RBs.

If the pilot density is less than 1, the pilot density defined in the current protocol is 0.5. That is, one RB in each two RBs always carries a reference signal. If the first frequency domain unit is configured as the frequency domain unit of the CQI to be reported, it means that the pilot density in the first frequency domain unit is greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density. If the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is odd, it can be inferred that the odd RBs in the first frequency domain unit carry the reference signal, the even RBs do not carry the reference signal, and the number of RBs carrying the reference signal is 1 more than the number of RBs not carrying the reference signal. That is, the pilot density of the first frequency domain unit is greater than 0.5.

And when the particle size ratio R is not 1, R is 2. In this case, if the first frequency domain unit is divided into two second frequency domain units, one second frequency domain unit inevitably contains odd number of RBs, the number of RBs carrying reference signals in the odd number of RBs is 1 more than the number of RBs not carrying reference signals, and the pilot density is greater than 0.5; another second type of frequency domain unit contains an even number of RBs with a pilot density of 0.5. Therefore, no matter how the division is carried out, the pilot density of the two frequency domain units of the second type obtained by the division can be ensured to be respectively greater than or equal to the pre-configured pilot density.

For example, fig. 9 illustrates an example of a pilot density in the first frequency domain unit greater than 0.5. The first frequency domain unit includes 7 RBs, and if it is ensured that the pilot density of the 7 RBs is greater than or equal to 0.5, 4 RBs of the 7 RBs carry the reference signal, and 3 RBs do not carry the reference signal. And one RB of every two RBs carries a reference signal. The 7 RBs may be divided into 3 RBs and 4 RBs, 2 RBs and 5 RBs, and 1 RB and 6 RBs. It can be seen from the figure that, no matter how the division is performed, the pilot density of the two second-class frequency domain units obtained by the division can be guaranteed to be greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density of 0.5.

That is, in the case where the pilot density is less than 1, the preset condition may be: the first frequency domain unit contains an odd number of RBs.

In other words, when the pilot density is less than 1 and the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is even, the first frequency domain unit is not divided.

Further, the above two preset conditions may be used in combination. For example, in the case where the pilot density is less than 1 and the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is an even number but not a multiple of 4, the first frequency domain unit is not divided.

For example, in the case of partitioning according to a predetermined second granularity, the preset condition is: the first frequency domain unit comprises an even number of RBs. Wherein the second granularity is a granularity determined by the preconfigured first granularity and a ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity.

If the pilot density is less than 1, the pilot density defined by the current protocol is 0.5. That is, one RB in each two RBs always carries a reference signal. If the first frequency domain unit is configured as the frequency domain unit of the CQI to be reported, it means that the pilot density in the first frequency domain unit is greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density. If the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is even, it can be inferred that one RB in every two RBs in the first frequency domain unit carries the reference signal, and the number of RBs carrying the reference signal is the same as the number of RBs not carrying the reference signal. That is, the pilot density of the first frequency domain unit is 0.5.

Furthermore, the first type of frequency domain unit currently defined in the protocol (i.e., the CQI sub-band granularity described above) may contain 4, 8, or 16 RBs. And when the particle size ratio R is not 1, R is 2. It can thus be determined that the second granularity contains a number of RBs that can be 2, 4, or 8. In this case, even if the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is not a multiple of 4, if the first frequency domain unit is divided into two second-type frequency domain units according to the second granularity, the number of RBs included in the two second-type frequency domain units obtained by the division is even. When the number of RBs included in the second type of frequency domain unit is even, the pilot density is still 0.5.

That is, in the case that the pilot density is less than 1 and the first frequency domain unit is divided according to the second granularity, the preset condition may be: the first frequency domain unit contains an even number of RBs.

In addition, in the case of partitioning according to the second granularity, the preset condition may further include: the first frequency domain unit includes a number of RBs greater than the second granularity.

It can be understood that, if the first frequency domain unit is divided according to the second granularity, it is meaningless to divide the first frequency domain unit when the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is less than or equal to the second granularity. Therefore, the first frequency domain unit may be divided to obtain a plurality of second class frequency domain units when the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is greater than the second granularity. The plurality of second-type frequency domain units obtained by the division may include at least one second-type frequency domain unit with a second granularity and at least one second-type frequency domain unit with a granularity smaller than the second granularity.

In summary, the preset condition for dividing the first frequency domain unit may be one of the following items:

a. the pre-configured pilot density is greater than or equal to 1; or

b. The number of RBs contained in the first frequency domain unit is a multiple of 4; or

c. The first frequency domain unit includes an odd number of RBs.

It should be understood that the above is only for understanding, some preset conditions are exemplarily listed, but this should not constitute any limitation to the present application. For example, the granularity of the first frequency domain unit is larger than the second granularity, which may be a preset condition for dividing the first frequency domain unit. For another example, the preset condition may be: under the condition that the number of RBs contained in a first frequency domain unit is even, dividing the first frequency domain unit; when the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is odd, the first frequency domain unit is not divided.

Moreover, the preset conditions listed above may also be used in combination without conflict. For example, the preset condition may be: the granularity in the first frequency domain unit is greater than the second granularity, and the first frequency domain unit includes a number of RBs that is a multiple of 4. Based on the principle that the pilot density of the second type of frequency domain units obtained after the division is greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density, those skilled in the art may also think of more possible preset conditions, which are not listed here for brevity.

As described above, the terminal device may divide at least one of the one or more first frequency domain units according to the second granularity to obtain a plurality of fourth frequency domain units; and may partition the one or more second frequency domain units according to a second granularity to obtain a plurality of third frequency domain units. The terminal device may determine the second granularity before performing the partitioning.

The terminal device may determine the second granularity according to the preconfigured first granularity and a ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity. The first granularity may be configured by the network device through signaling, for example. For example, a subband granularity (subband size) field in a CSI reporting configuration indicates a first granularity.

The ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity may be protocol predefined or may be configured by the network device through signaling.

Since the specific manner of indicating the R value by the second indication information is described in detail in the method 400, the detailed description is omitted here for brevity.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic diagram of dividing the reporting bandwidth into a plurality of frequency domain units of the second type. As shown in the figure, the reporting bandwidth shown in the figure includes N +2 first-class frequency domain units. The N +2 first-class frequency domain units specifically include 2 first frequency domain units and N second frequency domain units. The granularity of the 2 first frequency domain units is smaller than the preconfigured first granularity, and the granularity of the other N second frequency domain units is the first granularity.

For convenience of explanation, assuming that the first granularity is 8 RBs and R is 2, the second granularity may be determined to be 4. The first frequency domain unit at the left end of the reported bandwidth in the figure comprises 5 RBs, the first frequency domain unit at the right end of the reported bandwidth comprises 3 RBs, and the dashed box in the figure shows the second granularity. The terminal device and the network device may divide the first frequency domain unit located in the reporting bandwidth, respectively. In one implementation, the first frequency-domain unit may be partitioned according to a second granularity. The first frequency domain unit located at the left end of the reporting bandwidth may be divided into a third frequency domain unit including 4 RBs and a fourth frequency domain unit including 1 RB; the first frequency domain unit at the right end of the reporting bandwidth only contains 3 RBs, which is smaller than the number of RBs contained in the second granularity, so that no division is needed.

Through the above division, the N +2 first-class frequency domain units are divided into 2N +3 second-class frequency domain units. The 2N +3 second-type frequency domain units may include 3 fourth frequency domain units and 2N third frequency domain units. The granularity of each of the 2N third frequency domain units is a second granularity; in the 3 fourth frequency domain units, the granularity of 1 fourth frequency domain unit is the second granularity, and the granularity of the other 2 fourth frequency domain units is smaller than the second granularity. And the pilot density of each second-type frequency domain unit can be guaranteed to be larger than or equal to the pre-configured pilot density.

It should be understood that fig. 10 is shown merely for ease of understanding and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way.

Since the process of reporting the PMI by the terminal device and determining the precoding matrix by the network device according to the PMI has been described in the above method 400, details are not repeated here for brevity.

Therefore, in the technical solution provided by the present application, the first frequency domain unit at the reporting bandwidth edge is processed separately. Specifically, in the method provided by the present application, a first frequency domain unit meeting a preset condition is divided into a plurality of second frequency domain units, and it can be ensured to a greater extent that the pilot density is greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density, so that it is beneficial for the terminal device to obtain accurate PMI feedback when performing channel measurement on each second frequency domain unit. The network device may determine a precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit according to the PMI feedback for data transmission. Thus contributing to an improvement in data transmission performance.

For a better understanding of the method provided by the present application, the communication method 600 provided by the above embodiment is described in more detail below with reference to fig. 11.

Fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method 700 provided by yet another embodiment of the present application, shown from the perspective of device interaction. As shown, the method 700 may include steps 701-712. The method 700 is described in detail below with reference to the figures.

In step 701, the network device determines a reporting bandwidth, where the reporting bandwidth includes a plurality of first-class frequency domain units on which CQI reporting is based.

In step 702, the network device sends first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a reporting bandwidth. Correspondingly, the terminal equipment receives the first indication information.

For a detailed description of step 701 and step 702, reference may be made to steps 410 to 420 of method 400 above. For brevity, no further description is provided herein.

In step 703, the terminal device determines the reporting bandwidth according to the first indication information.

The terminal device may determine the reporting bandwidth according to the first indication information sent by the network device. Since the specific indication manner of the reported bandwidth is described in detail above, it is not described herein again for brevity. In step 704, the terminal device determines that the granularity of the first frequency-domain element is less than the preconfigured first granularity.

The first frequency domain unit is a first frequency domain unit or a last frequency domain unit in the reporting bandwidth, the first granularity is configured for a first class of frequency domain units, and the first class of frequency domain units are frequency domain units on which channel quality indicator CQI is reported.

It should be understood that the specific process of step 704 is the same as the specific process of step 504 in method 500 above, and therefore, for brevity, the detailed description is omitted here. Moreover, the method 700 described above with respect to the first frequency domain unit in the method 500 may still be applied, and for brevity, will not be described again here.

In step 705, the terminal device determines, when the first frequency domain unit satisfies a preset condition, a plurality of second-class frequency domain units according to one or more first frequency domain units, where the plurality of second-class frequency domain units includes a plurality of second-class frequency domain units obtained by dividing at least one first frequency domain unit.

As previously described, in some cases, even if the first frequency domain unit is divided into a plurality of second type frequency domain units, the pilot density within each second type frequency domain unit may remain greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density. For example, if there are 4 RBs in the first frequency domain unit and the pilot density is 0.5, the 4 RBs are equally divided into two second-type frequency domain units, each of which includes 2 RBs. The pilot density of these two second type frequency domain elements remains at 0.5. Thus, the first frequency domain unit may be selectively divided. The granularity of at least one second-class frequency domain unit in a plurality of second-class frequency domain units obtained by dividing the first frequency domain unit is smaller than the second granularity. The second granularity is a predetermined frequency domain unit granularity for PMI reporting. However, it can be understood that, no matter whether the granularity of the second class of frequency domain units obtained by the division is the second granularity, the terminal device may perform channel measurement and PMI reporting based on each of the second class of frequency domain units obtained by the division.

The terminal device may divide the first frequency domain unit when the first frequency domain unit satisfies a preset condition. In other words, the plurality of second-class frequency domain units obtained by dividing the first frequency domain unit may be obtained by dividing all the first frequency domain units in the reporting bandwidth, or may be obtained by dividing part of the first frequency domain units in the reporting bandwidth. Alternatively, a plurality of frequency domain elements of the second type may be determined from one or more of the first frequency domain elements. The second class of frequency-domain elements determined by the one or more first frequency-domain elements may correspond to the fourth frequency-domain elements in method 600 above. This is not a limitation of the present application.

Some preset conditions are listed below by way of example.

For example, the preset conditions are: the pre-configured pilot density for the first frequency domain unit is greater than or equal to 1.

It should be noted that the pre-configured pilot density for the first frequency domain unit is the same as the pre-configured pilot density for the reporting bandwidth. Therefore, the pre-configured pilot density for the first frequency domain unit may alternatively be a pre-configured pilot density for the reporting bandwidth, or a pre-configured pilot density.

Optionally, step 705 specifically includes: in the case that the preconfigured pilot density is greater than or equal to 1, the first frequency domain unit is divided into a plurality of fourth frequency domain units.

In other words, the first frequency domain unit is not divided in case the pre-configured pilot density is less than 1.

For another example, the preset conditions are: the first frequency domain unit contains a multiple of 4 RBs.

Optionally, step 705 specifically includes: in the case where the first frequency domain unit includes a number of RBs that is a multiple of 4, the first frequency domain unit is divided into a plurality of fourth frequency domain units.

The specific reason why the preconfigured pilot density is kept unchanged when the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is a multiple of 4 regardless of whether the pilot density is less than 1 has been described in detail in the method 600 above, and for brevity, no further description is given here.

In other words, if the pilot density is less than 1, the first frequency domain unit is not divided if the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is not a multiple of 4.

For another example, the preset conditions are: the first frequency domain unit contains an odd number of RBs.

Optionally, step 705 specifically includes: in the case where the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is odd, the first frequency domain unit is divided into a plurality of fourth frequency domain units.

The specific reason why the preconfigured pilot density can be kept unchanged when the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is odd, regardless of whether the pilot density is less than 1, has been described in detail in the method 600 above, and is not described herein again for brevity.

In other words, when the pilot density is less than 1, if the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is even, the first frequency domain unit is not divided.

Further, the above-mentioned preset conditions may be used in combination. For example, in the case where the pilot density is less than 1, and the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is an even number but not a multiple of 4, the first frequency domain unit is not divided.

For another example, in the case of partitioning according to a predetermined second granularity, the preset condition is: the first frequency domain unit contains an even number of RBs.

Optionally, step 705 specifically includes: in case that the first frequency domain unit includes an even number of RBs, the first frequency domain unit is divided into a plurality of fourth frequency domain units according to a predetermined second granularity, which is determined by a pre-configured first granularity and a ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity. The specific reason why the preconfigured pilot density can be kept unchanged when the number of RBs included in the first frequency domain unit is odd, regardless of whether the pilot density is less than 1, has been described in detail in the method 600 above, and is not described herein again for brevity.

Since each preset condition has been described in detail in the method 600, it is not repeated here for brevity.

It should be understood that the preset rules listed above are only examples and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. It should also be understood that the specific values recited above for the number of RBs included in the first granularity, the second granularity, and the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity are merely examples for ease of understanding and should not be construed as limiting the application in any way. The specific values of the number of RBs included in the first granularity and the second granularity and the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity are not limited in the present application.

It is also to be understood that the preset conditions listed above may also be used in combination without conflict. For example, the preset condition may be: the granularity in the first frequency domain unit is greater than the second granularity, the first frequency domain unit contains a number of RBs that is a multiple of 4 and a pilot density that is less than 1. For the sake of brevity, this is not to be enumerated here.

Optionally, step 705 specifically includes: and the terminal equipment determines a plurality of second-class frequency domain units according to the second granularity and the one or more first frequency domain units.

Specifically, the terminal device may divide, according to a predetermined second granularity, a first frequency domain unit that satisfies a preset condition in one or more first frequency domain units into a plurality of second-class frequency domain units. The granularity of at least one second-class frequency domain unit in the plurality of second-class frequency domain units obtained by the division is a second granularity.

Optionally, the method further comprises: in step 706, the terminal device divides one or more second frequency domain units in the report bandwidth into a plurality of third frequency domain units.

In fact, the terminal device may perform step 705 and step 706 at the same time, and in this embodiment, the terminal device is split into two steps for convenience of distinguishing and illustration. The process of dividing the first class frequency domain unit in the reporting bandwidth by the terminal device is an internal implementation process of the terminal device, and the specific operation process of step 705 and step 706 is not limited in this application.

The specific process of the terminal device dividing the second frequency domain unit into a plurality of third frequency domain units has been described in detail in step 430 of the method 400 above, and for brevity, details are not described here again.

Optionally, the method further includes step 707, the terminal device receives second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that a ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is not 1. Accordingly, in step 707, the network device transmits the second indication information.

The specific method for the network device to indicate the ratio of the first granularity to the second granularity through the second indication information has been described in detail in the method 400 above, and for brevity, no further description is given here.

In step 708, the terminal device transmits a PMI indicating a precoding matrix corresponding to each of the plurality of second-type frequency domain elements. Accordingly, in step 708, the network device receives the PMI.

Specifically, the PMI may be configured to indicate precoding matrices corresponding to each third frequency domain unit and each fourth frequency domain unit in the report bandwidth. It should be understood that, in the specific process of determining and sending the PMI, detailed description has been already made in step 507 of the method 500 above, and details are not described here for brevity.

In step 709, the network device determines a precoding matrix corresponding to each of the plurality of second-class frequency domain units according to the PMI.

After the network device receives the PMI, the network device may determine, in step 709, a precoding matrix corresponding to each third frequency domain unit and each fourth frequency domain unit according to the PMI. In other words, the network device may determine a precoding matrix corresponding to each of the plurality of second-type frequency domain units according to the PMI.

Thus, the method 700 further comprises:

at step 710, the network device determines that the granularity of the first frequency-domain element is less than the preconfigured first granularity.

In step 711, the network device divides the first frequency domain unit into one or more third frequency domain units and a second frequency domain unit.

In step 712, the network device divides the second frequency domain unit into a plurality of third frequency domain units.

Since the specific process of the network device performing step 710 and step 712 is similar to the specific process of the terminal device performing step 704 to step 706, it is not repeated here for brevity.

The steps 710 to 712 are shown between the steps 708 and 709, which are only examples, but should not be construed as limiting the present application. Steps 710 to 712 may be performed before step 708, or may be performed before step 702, as long as they are performed before step 709.

Therefore, in the method provided by the present application, the first frequency domain unit at the edge of the reporting bandwidth is processed separately, and the first frequency domain unit meeting the preset condition may be divided into a plurality of second frequency domain units, so as to ensure that the pilot density is greater than or equal to the pre-configured pilot density, thereby being beneficial to the terminal device to obtain accurate PMI feedback when performing channel measurement on each second frequency domain unit. The network device may determine, according to the PMI feedback, a precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit for data transmission. Thus contributing to an improvement in data transmission performance.

Fig. 12 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method 800 provided by yet another embodiment of the present application, shown from the perspective of device interaction. The method 800 may include steps 810 through 840 as shown. The method 800 is described in detail below with reference to the figures.

In step 810, the network device determines a reporting bandwidth, which includes a plurality of first type frequency domain units on which CQI reporting is based.

Specifically, the plurality of first-type frequency domain units includes one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units. Wherein the granularity of the first frequency domain unit may be smaller than the preconfigured first granularity or equal to the preconfigured first granularity. The granularity of the second frequency domain unit is the first granularity. The first granularity is a pre-configured frequency domain granularity for CQI reporting.

In step 820, the network device sends first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a reporting bandwidth. Correspondingly, the network equipment receives the first indication information.

For a detailed description of steps 810 and 820, reference may be made to steps 410 and 420 of method 400 above. For brevity, no further description is provided herein.

In step 830, the terminal device determines a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on which PMI is reported in the report bandwidth, where the plurality of second-class frequency domain units include a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing one or more second frequency domain units and a plurality of fourth frequency domain units determined by one or more first frequency domain units, and a granularity of at least one fourth frequency domain unit in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units is a second granularity.

Correspondingly, in step 840, the network device determines a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on PMI reporting in the reporting bandwidth, where the plurality of second-class frequency domain units include a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing one or more second frequency domain units and a plurality of fourth frequency domain units determined by one or more first frequency domain units, and a granularity of at least one fourth frequency domain unit in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units is a second granularity. Specifically, the terminal device and the network device may divide at least one first-class frequency domain unit of the one or more first frequency domain units into a plurality of fourth frequency domain units and divide the one or more second frequency domain units into a plurality of third frequency domain units according to a predetermined second granularity.

As previously mentioned, when the granularity of a first frequency-domain unit is larger than a second granularity, the first frequency-domain unit may be divided into a plurality of frequency-domain units of a second type. If the first frequency domain unit is divided according to the second granularity, the plurality of second frequency domain units obtained by dividing one first frequency domain unit may include at least one frequency domain unit with the second granularity and at least one frequency domain unit with the granularity smaller than the second granularity. In other words, at least a portion of the fourth frequency-domain units of the plurality of fourth frequency-domain units are obtained by dividing at least one of the one or more first frequency-domain units according to a predetermined second granularity.

Since the first frequency domain units in the reporting bandwidth are not necessarily all larger than the second granularity, the terminal device may determine the first frequency domain units with the granularity larger than the second granularity from one or more first frequency domain units in the reporting bandwidth, and divide the first frequency domain units according to the second granularity.

The second granularity is a predetermined frequency domain granularity reported by the PMI, and may be determined by the first granularity and a ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the terminal device determines a second granularity.

If the first frequency domain unit is to be divided according to the second granularity, the terminal device may determine the second granularity in advance. The second granularity may in particular be determined by a preconfigured first granularity and a ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity.

The specific method of dividing the first frequency domain unit into a plurality of second-type frequency domain units according to the second granularity and the specific method of determining the second granularity have been described in detail in the method 600 and the method 700 above. For brevity, no further description is provided herein.

In addition, the terminal device and the network device may divide the first frequency domain unit under the condition that it is determined that the first frequency domain unit satisfies some preset conditions, respectively.

For example, the preset condition may be one of the following enumerated items:

a. the pre-configured pilot density is greater than or equal to 1; or

c. The number of RBs contained in the first frequency domain unit is odd; or

d. The first frequency domain unit includes an even number of RBs.

Each preset condition has been described in detail in the

above methods

600 and 700, and is not described herein again for brevity.

After determining the second type of frequency domain units based on which the PMI is reported, the terminal device may perform channel measurement and PMI feedback based on the reference signals received on each second type of frequency domain unit. After determining the second-class frequency domain units based on which the PMI is reported, the network device may determine the precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit according to the received PMI.

Since the process of reporting the PMI by the terminal device and determining the precoding matrix by the network device according to the PMI has been described in the above method 400, details are not described here for brevity.

Therefore, in the technical solution provided by the present application, the first frequency domain unit at the reporting bandwidth edge is processed separately. Specifically, in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first frequency domain unit is divided into a plurality of second-class frequency domain units according to a predefined second granularity. By dividing the first frequency domain unit, the frequency domain granularity reported by the PMI can be reduced, so that the terminal equipment can be facilitated to carry out channel measurement on the frequency domain unit with smaller granularity, and accurate PMI feedback can be obtained. In addition, the first frequency domain units meeting the preset conditions are divided, so that the pilot frequency density of the second frequency domain units obtained after division can be ensured to be larger than or equal to the pre-configured pilot frequency density, and the terminal equipment can obtain more accurate PMI feedback. The network device may determine a precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit according to the PMI feedback for data transmission. Thus contributing to an improvement in data transmission performance.

Fig. 13 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method illustrated from the perspective of device interaction provided by yet another embodiment of the present application. As shown, the method 900 includes steps 910 through 940. The method 900 is described in detail below with reference to the figures.

In step 910, the network device determines a reporting bandwidth, which includes a plurality of frequency domain units of a first type on which CQI reporting is based.

In step 920, the network device sends first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a reporting bandwidth. Correspondingly, the network equipment receives the first indication information.

For a detailed description of step 910 and step 920, reference may be made to step 410 and step 420 of method 400 above. For brevity, no further description is provided herein.

In step 930, in a case that the number of the first class frequency domain units included in the reporting bandwidth is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, the terminal device determines a plurality of second class frequency domain units based on PMI reporting in the reporting bandwidth, where the plurality of second class frequency domain units includes a plurality of third frequency domain units and one or more first frequency domain units, which are obtained by dividing one or more second frequency domain units.

Correspondingly, in step 940, when the number of the first-class frequency domain units included in the reporting bandwidth is greater than or equal to the preset threshold, the network device determines a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on PMI reporting in the reporting bandwidth, where the plurality of second-class frequency domain units include a plurality of third frequency domain units and one or more first frequency domain units, where the plurality of third frequency domain units are obtained by dividing one or more second frequency domain units.

That is, under the condition that the number of the first class frequency domain units included in the reporting bandwidth is greater than or equal to the preset threshold, the first frequency domain units may not be divided. One or more first frequency domain units in the reporting bandwidth may be directly used as the fourth frequency domain unit. The granularity of each fourth frequency domain unit may be smaller than the second granularity, may be equal to the second granularity, and may be larger than the second granularity. The granularity of the fourth frequency domain elements may be different from each other. The terminal device and the network device may only divide one or more second frequency domain units in the reporting bandwidth to obtain a plurality of third frequency domain units. The granularity of each third frequency domain unit is the second granularity.

Optionally, the preset threshold is a maximum value of a first class of frequency domain units included in the reporting bandwidth.

As an example, the preset threshold is 19. When the number of the first-class frequency domain units included in the reporting bandwidth is 19, the terminal device and the network device determine a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on PMI reporting in the reporting bandwidth, where the plurality of second-class frequency domain units include a plurality of third frequency domain units and one or more first frequency domain units, which are obtained by dividing one or more second frequency domain units.

That is, the maximum number of frequency domain units of the first type included in the reporting bandwidth is 19. When the number of the first-class frequency domain units included in the reporting bandwidth is 19, all 2 first frequency domain units included in the 19 first-class frequency domain units (i.e., the first-class frequency domain unit and the last first-class frequency domain unit in the reporting bandwidth) may not be divided. The 2 first frequency-domain units may directly act as 2 fourth frequency-domain units. The terminal device and the network device may divide 17 second frequency domain units of the 19 first frequency domain units to obtain 34 third frequency domain units. Therefore, the 19 first-class frequency domain units are divided into 36 second-class frequency domain units.

The first class frequency domain units at the reporting bandwidth edge are not divided, so that the total number of the second class frequency domain units can be reduced. In some codebook feedback modes, such as a codebook feedback mode of dual-domain compression, the terminal device may report the selected frequency domain vector according to the channel measurement result. The length of the frequency domain vector is related to the total number of frequency domain elements of the second type.

In one possible design, when the number N of frequency domain elements of the first type_SBAnd the product of the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is less than or equal to 13, i.e., N_SBWhen the multiplied by R is less than or equal to 13, the number of the actually configured second-class frequency domain units is N₃＝N_SBX R; when the number of the first kind of frequency domain units is N_SBAnd the product of the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is greater than 13, i.e., N_SBWhen x R is more than 13, the number of the second kind frequency domain units which are actually configured is N₃Is the product of powers of 2,3, 5. The terminal equipment can change the actually processed frequency domain dimension number into 2 by means of zero padding or clipping and the like^α3^β5^γ. Wherein, alpha, beta and gamma are integers which are any number more than or equal to 0.

For example, the total number of frequency domain units of the second type N₃At 36, a frequency domain vector of length 36 may be selected; as another example, the total number of frequency domain units of the second type N₃At 38, a frequency domain vector of length 40 may be selected. That is, the length of the frequency domain vector is greater than or equal to the total number of frequency domain units of the second type.

That is to say that the position of the first electrode,if the first frequency domain unit is divided, N₃Is in the range of {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,15,16,18,20,24,25,27,30,32,36,40 }; n if the first frequency domain unit is not divided₃Is in the range of {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,15,16,18,20,24,25,27,30,32,36 }.

On the other hand, the terminal device may pre-store the codebook so as to report the selected frequency domain vector according to the channel measurement result. It can be seen that if the first frequency domain units are not divided, the number of the second frequency domain units can be reduced, which is beneficial to reducing the length of the frequency domain vector. Still in the above example, when the number of the first-class frequency domain units included in the report bandwidth reaches the preset threshold, and the total number of the second-class frequency domain units obtained by dividing is 36, the terminal device does not need to store one more matrix with a dimension of 40 × 40, so that the storage space can be saved. This also has the effect of saving storage space for network devices. For example, the network device may restore the precoding matrix of each second-class frequency domain unit according to the pre-saved codebook. If one matrix can be saved, a part of the storage space can be saved. Meanwhile, the first frequency domain unit is not divided, so that the pilot density of the first frequency domain unit is not changed.

It should be understood that the above listed preset thresholds and the maximum number of the first type of frequency domain units included in the reporting bandwidth are only examples, and should not limit the present application in any way. The specific values of the maximum number of the first-class frequency domain units that can be included in the preset threshold and the reporting bandwidth are not limited.

After determining the second frequency domain units based on which the PMI is reported, the terminal device may perform channel measurement and PMI feedback based on the reference signals received on each second frequency domain unit. After determining the second-class frequency domain units based on which the PMI is reported, the network device may determine the precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit according to the received PMI.

Therefore, in the technical solution provided by the present application, the first frequency domain unit at the reporting bandwidth edge is processed separately. Specifically, in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first frequency domain unit at the edge of the reporting bandwidth is not divided, so as to ensure that the pilot density is greater than or equal to the preconfigured pilot density, thereby being beneficial to obtaining accurate PMI feedback when the terminal device performs channel measurement on each second frequency domain unit. The network device may determine a precoding matrix corresponding to each second-class frequency domain unit according to the PMI feedback for data transmission. Thus contributing to an improvement in data transmission performance. Meanwhile, the storage space can be saved for some codebook feedback modes.

It should be understood that, in the foregoing embodiments, the sequence numbers of the processes do not imply an execution sequence, and the execution sequence of the processes should be determined by functions and internal logic of the processes, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

The method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 5 to 13. Hereinafter, the apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to fig. 14 to 16.

Fig. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 14, the communication device 1000 may include a transceiving unit 1100 and a processing unit 1200.

In one possible design, the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the terminal device in the above method embodiment, and may be, for example, the terminal device or a chip configured in the terminal device. It should be understood that one or more chips may be provided in the terminal device. This is not a limitation of the present application. When there are a plurality of chips configured in the terminal device, the plurality of chips may be used to implement the operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

Specifically, the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to a terminal device in the method 400, the method 500, the method 600, the method 700, the method 800 or the method 900 according to an embodiment of the present application, and the communication apparatus 1000 may include a unit for performing the method performed by the terminal device in the method 400 in fig. 5, the method 500 in fig. 7, the method 600 in fig. 8, the method 700 in fig. 11, the method 800 in fig. 12 or the method 900 in fig. 13. Also, the units and other operations and/or functions described above in the communication apparatus 1000 are respectively for implementing corresponding flows of the method 400 in fig. 5, the method 500 in fig. 7, the method 600 in fig. 8, the method 700 in fig. 11, the method 800 in fig. 12, or the method 900 in fig. 13.

When the communication device 1000 is used to execute the method 400 in fig. 5, the transceiver unit 1100 may be used to execute step 420 in the method 400, and the processing unit 1200 may be used to execute step 430 in the method 400. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to execute the method 500 in fig. 7, the transceiver unit 1100 may be configured to execute the steps 502, 506 and 570 in the method 500, and the processing unit 1200 may be configured to execute the steps 503 to 505 in the method 500. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to perform the method 600 in fig. 8, the transceiver unit 1100 may be configured to perform step 620 in the method 600, and the processing unit 1200 may be configured to perform step 630 in the method 600. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to execute the method 700 in fig. 11, the transceiver unit 1100 may be configured to execute the steps 702, 707 and 708 in the method 700, and the processing unit 1200 may be configured to execute the steps 703 to 706 in the method 700. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to perform the method 800 in fig. 12, the transceiver unit 1100 is configured to perform step 820 in the method 800, and the processing unit 1200 is configured to perform step 830 in the method 800. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to execute the method 900 in fig. 13, the transceiver unit 1100 may be configured to execute step 920 in the method 900, and the processing unit 1200 may be configured to execute step 930 in the method 900. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

It is further understood that when the communication apparatus 1000 is a terminal device, the transceiver unit 1100 in the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the transceiver 2020 in the terminal device 2000 shown in fig. 15, and the processing unit 1200 in the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the processor 2010 in the terminal device 2000 shown in fig. 15.

It should also be understood that when the communication device 1000 is a chip configured in a terminal device, the transceiver unit 1100 in the communication device 1000 may be an input/output interface.

In another possible design, the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the network device in the above method embodiment, and may be, for example, a network device or a chip configured in a network device. It should be understood that one or more chips may be configured in the network device. This is not a limitation of the present application. When there are multiple chips configured in a network device, the multiple chips may be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in the above method embodiments.

In particular, the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to a network device in the method 400, the method 500, the method 600, the method 700, the method 800 or the method 900 according to an embodiment of the present application, and the communication apparatus 1000 may include a unit for performing the method performed by the network device in the method 400 in fig. 5, the method 500 in fig. 7, the method 600 in fig. 8, the method 700 in fig. 11, the method 800 in fig. 12 or the method 900 in fig. 13. Also, the units and other operations and/or functions described above in the communication apparatus 1000 are respectively for implementing corresponding flows of the method 400 in fig. 5, the method 500 in fig. 7, the method 600 in fig. 8, the method 700 in fig. 11, the method 800 in fig. 12, or the method 900 in fig. 13.

When the communication device 1000 is used to execute the method 400 in fig. 5, the transceiver unit 1100 may be used to execute step 420 in the method 400, and the processing unit 1200 may be used to execute step 410 and step 440 in the method 400. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to perform the method 500 in fig. 7, the transceiver unit 1100 may be configured to perform steps 502, 506 and 507 of the method 500, and the processing unit 1200 may be configured to perform steps 501, 508 to 510 of the method 500. It should be understood that, the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and are not described herein again for brevity.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to perform the method 600 in fig. 8, the transceiver unit 1100 may be configured to perform step 620 in the method 600, and the processing unit 1200 may be configured to perform steps 610 and 640 in the method 600. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to execute the method 700 in fig. 11, the transceiver unit 1100 may be configured to execute the steps 702, 707 and 708 in the method 700, and the processing unit 1200 may be configured to execute the steps 709 to 712 in the method 700. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to perform the method 800 in fig. 12, the transceiver unit 1100 is configured to perform step 820 in the method 800, and the processing unit 1200 is configured to perform steps 810 and 840 in the method 800. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to perform the method 900 in fig. 13, the transceiver unit 1100 may be configured to perform step 920 in the method 900, and the processing unit 1200 may be configured to perform steps 910 and 940 in the method 900. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

It should also be understood that when the communication apparatus 1000 is a network device, the transceiving unit in the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the transceiver 3200 in the network device 3000 shown in fig. 16, and the processing unit 1200 in the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the processor 3100 in the network device 3000 shown in fig. 16.

It should also be understood that when the communication device 1000 is a chip configured in a network device, the transceiver unit 1100 in the communication device 1000 may be an input/output interface.

Fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device 2000 according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 2000 can be applied to the system shown in fig. 1, and performs the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiment. As shown, the terminal device 2000 includes a processor 2010 and a transceiver 2020. Optionally, the terminal device 2000 further comprises a memory 2030. The processor 2010, the transceiver 2002 and the memory 2030 may be in communication with each other via the interconnection path to transfer control and/or data signals, the memory 2030 may be used for storing a computer program, and the processor 2010 may be used for retrieving and executing the computer program from the memory 2030 to control the transceiver 2020 to transmit and receive signals. Optionally, the terminal device 2000 may further include an antenna 2040, configured to transmit uplink data or uplink control signaling output by the transceiver 2020 by using a wireless signal.

The processor 2010 and the memory 2030 may be combined into a processing device, and the processor 2010 is configured to execute the program codes stored in the memory 2030 to achieve the above functions. In particular, the memory 2030 may be integrated with the processor 2010 or may be separate from the processor 2010. The processor 2010 may correspond to the processing unit in fig. 14.

The transceiver 2020 may correspond to the transceiver in fig. 14, and may also be referred to as a transceiver. The transceiver 2020 may include a receiver (or receiver, receiving circuit) and a transmitter (or transmitter, transmitting circuit). Wherein the receiver is used for receiving signals, and the transmitter is used for transmitting signals.

It should be understood that the terminal device 2000 shown in fig. 15 can implement the processes related to the terminal device in the method embodiments shown in fig. 5, fig. 7, fig. 8, fig. 11, fig. 12 or fig. 13. The operations and/or functions of the modules in the terminal device 2000 are respectively to implement the corresponding flows in the above-described method embodiments. Reference may be made specifically to the description of the above method embodiments, and a detailed description is appropriately omitted herein to avoid redundancy.

The processor 2010 may be configured to perform the actions described in the preceding method embodiments that are implemented within the terminal device, and the transceiver 2020 may be configured to perform the actions described in the preceding method embodiments that the terminal device transmits to or receives from the network device. Please refer to the description of the previous embodiment of the method, which is not repeated herein.

Optionally, the terminal device 2000 may further include a power supply 2050 for supplying power to various devices or circuits in the terminal device.

In addition, in order to further improve the functions of the terminal device, the terminal device 2000 may further include one or more of an input unit 2060, a display unit 2070, an audio circuit 2080, a camera 2090, a sensor 2100, and the like, and the audio circuit may further include a speaker 2082, a microphone 2084, and the like.

Fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device provided in the embodiment of the present application, which may be a schematic structural diagram of a base station, for example. The base station 3000 can be applied to the system shown in fig. 1, and performs the functions of the network device in the above method embodiment. As shown, the base station 3000 may include one or more radio frequency units, such as a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) 3100 and one or more baseband units (BBUs) (which may also be referred to as Distributed Units (DUs)) 3200. The RRU 3100 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, and corresponds to the transceiver unit 1200 in fig. 14. Alternatively, the transceiving unit 3100 may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiving circuit, or transceiver, etc., which may comprise at least one antenna 3101 and a radio frequency unit 3102. Alternatively, the transceiving unit 3100 may include a receiving unit and a transmitting unit, the receiving unit may correspond to a receiver (or receiver, receiving circuit), and the transmitting unit may correspond to a transmitter (or transmitter, transmitting circuit). The RRU 3100 part is mainly used for transceiving and converting radio frequency signals to baseband signals, for example, for sending indication information to a terminal device. The BBU 3200 section is mainly used for performing baseband processing, controlling a base station, and the like. The RRU 3100 and the BBU 3200 may be physically disposed together or may be physically disposed separately, i.e. distributed base stations.

The BBU 3200, which is a control center of the base station and may also be referred to as a processing unit, may correspond to the processing unit 1100 in fig. 14, and is mainly used for performing baseband processing functions, such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, spreading, and the like. For example, the BBU (processing unit) may be configured to control the base station to perform an operation procedure related to the network device in the above method embodiment, for example, to generate the above first indication information.

In an example, the BBU 3200 may be formed by one or more boards, and the boards may collectively support a radio access network of a single access system (e.g., an LTE network), or may respectively support radio access networks of different access systems (e.g., an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The BBU 3200 also includes a memory 3201 and a processor 3202. The memory 3201 is used to store necessary instructions and data. The processor 3202 is used for controlling the base station to perform necessary actions, for example, for controlling the base station to execute the operation flow related to the network device in the above method embodiment. The memory 3201 and processor 3202 may serve one or more boards. That is, the memory and processor may be provided separately on each board. Multiple boards may share the same memory and processor. In addition, each single board can be provided with necessary circuits.

It should be understood that the base station 3000 shown in fig. 16 can implement the processes involving the network device in the method embodiments shown in fig. 5, 7,8, 11,12 or 13. The operations and/or functions of the respective modules in the base station 3000 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows in the above-described method embodiments. Reference may be made specifically to the description of the above method embodiments, and a detailed description is appropriately omitted herein to avoid redundancy.

BBU 3200 as described above can be used to perform actions described in previous method embodiments as being implemented internally by a network device, while RRU 3100 can be used to perform actions described in previous method embodiments as being sent by or received from a terminal device by a network device. Please refer to the description of the previous embodiment of the method, which is not repeated herein.

It should be understood that the base station 3000 shown in fig. 16 is only one possible architecture of a network device, and should not limit the present application in any way. The method provided by the application can be applied to network equipment with other architectures. Such as Active Antenna Unit (AAU), CU + DU, etc. The present application is not limited to the specific architecture of the network device.

The embodiment of the application also provides a processing device, which comprises a processor and an interface; the processor is configured to perform the method of any of the above method embodiments.

It is to be understood that the processing means described above may be one or more chips. For example, the processing device may be a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), a digital signal processing circuit (DSP), a Microcontroller (MCU), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or other integrated chips.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor. The software modules may be located in ram, flash, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor described above may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

It will be appreciated that the memory in the embodiments of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method in the embodiment shown in fig. 5, 7,8, 11,12 or 13.

There is also provided a computer readable medium having program code stored thereon, which when run on a computer causes the computer to perform the method of the embodiments shown in fig. 5, 7,8, 11,12 or 13, according to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a system, which includes the foregoing one or more terminal devices and one or more network devices.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that includes one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

The network device in the foregoing device embodiments completely corresponds to the terminal device and the network device or the terminal device in the method embodiments, and the corresponding module or unit executes the corresponding steps, for example, the communication unit (transceiver) executes the steps of receiving or transmitting in the method embodiments, and other steps besides transmitting and receiving may be executed by the processing unit (processor). The functions of the specific elements may be referred to in the respective method embodiments. The number of the processors may be one or more.

As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between 2 or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps (step) described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

In the above embodiments, the functions of the functional units may be fully or partially implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions (programs). The procedures or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the present application are all or partially generated when the computer program instructions (program) are loaded and executed on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

sending first indication information, where the first indication information is used to configure a reporting bandwidth, where the reporting bandwidth includes multiple first-class frequency domain units on which Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) is reported, the multiple first-class frequency domain units include one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units, a granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than a preconfigured first granularity, a granularity of the second frequency domain unit is the first granularity, and the first granularity is a preconfigured frequency domain granularity for CQI reporting;

determining a plurality of second-class frequency domain units based on which a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) is reported in the reporting bandwidth when the granularity of the one or more first frequency domain units is smaller than or equal to a predetermined second granularity, where the plurality of second-class frequency domain units include the one or more first frequency domain units and a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing the one or more second frequency domain units, the granularity of the third frequency domain units is the second granularity, the second granularity is a predetermined frequency domain granularity for PMI reporting, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity;

when the granularity of the one or more first frequency domain units is larger than the second granularity, determining a plurality of second class frequency domain units on which a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) is reported in the reporting bandwidth, where the plurality of second class frequency domain units include a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing the one or more second frequency domain units and a plurality of fourth frequency domain units determined by the one or more first frequency domain units; wherein at least some of the fourth frequency domain units in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units are obtained by dividing the first frequency domain unit; the granularity of the third frequency domain unit is a predetermined second granularity, and the granularity of at least one fourth frequency domain unit in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units is smaller than the second granularity; the second granularity is a predetermined frequency domain granularity for reporting PMI, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the fourth frequency-domain elements of the plurality of fourth frequency-domain elements are partitioned from the first frequency-domain element according to the second granularity.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein said second granularity comprises a number N of resource blocks, RBs₂＝N₁/R，N₁Representing the number of RBs contained in a preconfigured first granularity, R being the ratio of said first granularity to said second granularity, R, N₁And N₂Are all positive integers.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

and sending second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is equal to 2.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending the first indication information comprises:

and sending the first indication information through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said sending second indication information comprises:

and sending the second indication information through RRC signaling.

7. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a communication unit, configured to send first indication information, where the first indication information is used to configure a reporting bandwidth, where the reporting bandwidth includes a plurality of first-class frequency domain units on which Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) reporting is based, the plurality of first-class frequency domain units include one or more first frequency domain units and one or more second frequency domain units, a granularity of the first frequency domain unit is smaller than a preconfigured first granularity, a granularity of the second frequency domain unit is the first granularity, and the first granularity is a preconfigured frequency domain granularity for CQI reporting;

a processing unit, configured to determine, when a granularity of the one or more first frequency domain units is smaller than or equal to a predetermined second granularity, a plurality of second frequency domain units based on which a precoding matrix indicates PMI to report in the reporting bandwidth, where the plurality of second frequency domain units include the one or more first frequency domain units and a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing the one or more second frequency domain units, a granularity of the third frequency domain units is the predetermined second granularity, the second granularity is a predetermined frequency domain granularity for PMI to report, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity;

the processing unit is further configured to determine, when the granularity of the one or more first frequency domain units is greater than the second granularity, a plurality of second frequency domain units based on which the precoding matrix indicator PMI is reported in the reporting bandwidth, where the plurality of second frequency domain units include a plurality of third frequency domain units obtained by dividing the one or more second frequency domain units and a plurality of fourth frequency domain units determined by the one or more first frequency domain units; at least one of the one or more first frequency domain units satisfies a preset condition, and at least a part of the fourth frequency domain units in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units are obtained by dividing the first frequency domain units satisfying the preset condition; the granularity of the third frequency domain unit is a predetermined second granularity, and the granularity of at least one fourth frequency domain unit in the plurality of fourth frequency domain units is smaller than the second granularity; the second granularity is a predetermined frequency domain granularity for reporting PMI, and the second granularity is smaller than the first granularity.

8. The communications apparatus of claim 7, wherein at least some of the fourth frequency-domain units of the plurality of fourth frequency-domain units are partitioned from the first frequency-domain unit according to the second granularity.

9. The communications apparatus as claimed in claim 7 or 8, wherein the second granularity comprises a number N of resource blocks RB₂＝N₁/R，N₁Representing the number of RBs contained in a preconfigured first granularity, R being the ratio of said first granularity to said second granularity, R, N₁And N₂Are all positive integers.

10. The communication apparatus according to any of claims 7 to 9, wherein the communication unit is further configured to send second indication information indicating that a ratio R of the first granularity to the second granularity is equal to 2.

11. The communications apparatus of claim 7, the communications unit further configured to transmit the first indication information via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

12. The communications apparatus of claim 10, wherein the communications unit is further configured to send the second indication information via RRC signaling.

13. A communication apparatus comprising a processor and a communication interface for communication, the processor being configured to execute a computer program such that the method of any of claims 1 to 6 is implemented.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the device is a chip.

15. A communication chip having instructions stored therein that, when run on a terminal device, cause the method of any one of claims 1 to 6 to be implemented.

16. A computer-readable medium, comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the method of any one of claims 1 to 6 to be implemented.

17. A computer program product, comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the method of any one of claims 1 to 6 to be implemented.